THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 


MILDRED 


THE 

SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 


A    NOVEL 


BY 


BELL    ELLIOTT    PALMER 


FRONTISPIECE  BY  CHASE  EMERSON 


BOSTON 
LOTHROP,  LEE  &  SHEPARD  CO. 


Published,  August,  1915 


COPTRIOHT,     1915,    BY    LOTHROP,    LBE    &    SHKPARD    Co. 


All  rights  reserved 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 


Press 

BERWICK  &  SMITH  CO. 

NORWOOD.  MASS. 
O.  8.  A. 


CONTENTS 

LETTEB  PAGE 

I  Mrs.  William  Howard  Thompson  to 
Her  Nephew,  Edward  Clifton  Alls- 
ton,  Lawyer.  October  Fourth  .  .  11 

II  Edward  Clifton  Aliston  to  His  Aunt, 
Mrs.  William  Howard  Thompson — 
but  an  Evening  Later  ....  17 

III  Mrs.  William  Howard  Thompson,  in 

Immediate  Reply  to  Edward  Clifton 
Aliston 26 

IV  Edward  Clifton  Aliston  to  Mrs.  Wil- 

liam Howard  Thompson.    By  Spe- 
cial-Delivery.    October  Eighth        .     28 

V    Mrs.  William  Howard  Thompson.    In 

Reply.    October  Tenth    ....     30 

VI  Edward  Clifton  Aliston  in  Reply  to  a 
Talk  with  Frank  Orison  Holland. 
October  Seventeenth 33 

VII    Frank    Orison    Holland.    In    Reply. 

October  Twenty-Second  ....     36 

VIII  Edward  Clifton  Aliston  to  Holland. 
Written  at  His  Home  Desk  on  the 
Evening  of  Receipt  of  Letter  .  .  41 


2137678 


CONTENTS 

LETTEB  PAGE 

IX  First  Report  from  Frank  Orison  Hol- 
land to  Edward  Clifton  Aliston. 
Concerning  His  First  Sweetheart. 
October  Twenty-Sixth,  at  Ellison 
Grove 43 

X  Second  Report  from  Frank  Orison 
Holland  to  Aliston.  Concerning  the 
Little  Blue-Homer  Girl.  In  Which 
He  Attempts  to  Assume  Heavy  Re- 
sponsibilities for  His  Age.  Novem- 
ber First;  at  Ellison  Grove  ...  75 

XI  Third  Report  from  Holland  to  Aliston. 
Concerning  College  Days,  and  an 
Attempt  to  Act  the  Part  of  Brother. 
November  Third;  at  Ellison  Grove  122 

XII  Fourth  Report  from  Holland  to  Alis- 
ton. Back  to  the  Boys,  with  Disas- 
trous Results.  November  Fifth  .  147 

XIII  Orison  to   Aliston.    In   Continuance, 

the  Next  Morning.  Dismissal  and 
an  Abrupt  Decision 171 

XIV  Edward  Clifton  Aliston  to  His  Aunt, 

Mrs.  Thompson.  In  Which  He  Asks 
Speedy  Help.  At  His  Home  Desk. 
November  Eighth 189 

XV  Mrs.  William  Howard  Thompson  to 
Aliston.  By  Night-Letter.  Novem- 
ber Tenth  .  .  198 


CONTENTS 

LETTEB  PAGE 

XVI  Fifth  Report  from  Orison  to  Aliston. 
Concerning  the  Girl  in  the  Land  of 
Shadow.  Ellison  Grove,  November 
Twelfth 201 

XVII  Aliston  to  Holland.  A  Very  Brief 
Note  Concerning  a  Minute  Search 
for  the  Girl  in  the  Land  of  Shadow  229 

XVIII  Sixth  Report  from  Holland  to  Aliston. 
Concerning  His  Second  Engage- 
ment. Still  at  Ellison  Grove,  No- 
vember Fourteenth 230 

XIX  Seventh  Report  from  Holland  to  Alis- 
ton. The  Lure  of  the  Woman  of 
Non-Conventional  Views.  Ellison 
Grove,  November  Seventeenth  .  .  256 

XX  From  Mildred  to  Her  Aunt,  Mrs. 
William  Howard  Thompson.  In 
Which  She  Confesses  Herself  Much 
at  Sea.  At  Prairie  Grove.  No- 
vember Seventeenth 304 

XXI  Aliston  to  His  Sister  Mildred.  By 
Special  Delivery.  November  Nine- 
teenth   308 

XXII  Holland  to  Aliston.  An  Attempted 
Search  for  the  Girl  in  the  Land  of 
Shadow.  At  Congress  Hotel,  Chi- 
cago. November  Twentieth  .  .  .  311 


CONTENTS 

LETTER  PAGE 

XXIII  Just    a    Kestful    Letter    from    Mrs. 

Thompson  to  Nephew,  Edward  Clif- 
ton Aliston.  November  Twenty- 
Fifth  329 

XXIV  From  Holland  to  Aliston.    Concerning 

a  Call  Upon  the  Woman  of  Non-Con- 
ventional Views,  and  News  of  the 
Country  Sweetheart.  Pine  View 
Hotel.  December  First  ....  340 

XXV    Holland  to  Aliston.    Concerning  the 

Latter 's  Sister.    December  Sixth    .  364 

XXVI  Mrs.  William  Howard  Thompson  to 
Edward  Clifton  Aliston.  December 
Sixteenth 369 

XXVII  Aliston  in  Reply.  By  Night-Letter. 
Received  the  Morning  of  December 
Eighteenth 372 

XXVIII  Mrs.  William  Howard  Thompson  in 
Reply  to  Aliston.  By  Dispatch,  the 
Evening  of  December  Eighteenth  .  374 

XXIX  Aliston  to  Harriet  Glenn.  By  Special- 
Delivery  Letter,  Heavily  Sealed. 
December  Nineteenth  ....  375 

XXX  Aliston  to  Mrs.  Howard  Thompson. 
In  Form  of  an  Announcement.  By 
Special-Delivery,  December  Nine- 


CONTENTS 

LETTEB 

teenth.    Written  at  His  Home  at 
Midnight 377 

XXXI  Mrs.  William  Howard  Thompson  to 
Aliston.  By  Special-Delivery,  De- 
cember Twenty-First  ....  379 


THE  SINGLE-CODE 
GIRL 

IN  THE  FORM  OF  PLAIN  LETTERS, 

SPECIAL-DELIVERY  MESSAGES, 

AND  DISPATCHES 

TIME — OCTOBER  FOURTH  TO  CHEISTMAS  EVE. 

LETTER  I 

Mrs.  William  Howard  Thompson  to  Her 
Nephew,  Edward  Clifton  Aliston,  Lawyer. 
October  Fourth. 

MY  BEARED: 

It  is  twilight,  the  hour  when  Billy  and  I 
used  to  indulge  in  our  most  restful  confidences. 
If  you  could  see  Kirk  Hollow  at  this  moment 
you  would  understand  just  why.  The  reflected 

red  and  gold  from  mountains  over  the  smallest 

11 


12       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

bit  of  furnishing  in  my  living-room  takes  away 
the  worst  gloom  from  the  terrible  lonesomeness 
that  I  have  had  to  endure  since  Billy  left  me. 
Just  for  the  moment,  but  even  that  is  something. 

From  the  hillsides  the  tinkle  of  sheep-bells 
adds  a  touch  of  sweetness,  which  even  the  gut- 
tural notes  of  that  ridiculously  bombastic  old 
frog  you  used  to  laugh  at  last  summer  can  not 
quite  drown  out.  But  the  shepherds  are  al- 
ready closing  in  their  flocks,  and  talking  of  their 
drive  * '  down  country. ' '  Soon  Kirk  Hollow  will 
lie  deep  in  her  winter  drapery ;  and  the  voice  of 
our  frog  will  become  chilled  in  his  stiffened 
throat.  It  is  of  a  possible  help  for  those  days, 
unendurable  even  in  prospect,  that  I  am  anxious 
to  consult  you. 

It  is  such  a  comfort,  Teddy,  to  know  that  you 
are  a  man  of  serious  affairs  and  able  to  judge 
wisely.  The  fact  that  we  are  so  nearly  of  an 
age,  and  that  you  used  to  ward  off  too  aggres- 
sive lovers  for  me  in  schooldays — while  I,  in 
turn,  tried  to  cover  your  many  weaknesses 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       13 

from  Miss  Cross-Stick  and  Professor  Wise — 
makes  me  confident  that  you  can  better  under- 
stand my  need  than  any  other  lawyer  or  any 
Spiritual  Adviser  whom  I  could  possibly  con- 
sult. You  appreciate  how  I  feel  when  I  say  I 
shall  never,  never  enter  social  life  again;  and 
never,  never,  never  remarry  after  being  the 
wife  of  such  a  big,  splendid,  whole-souled  man 
as  Billy.  But  I  can  not  live  on  alone !  I  must 
adopt  a  daughter.  Billy  would  have  it  so,  I 
know.  Even  Dr.  Forrester,  who  drops  in  now 
and  then  to  talk  of  his  college  days  with  Billy, 
agrees  that  it  is  the  best  possible  plan. — But, 
Teddy,  help  me  find  just  the  right  one! 

If  you  were  not  so  unreasonably  headstrong 
about  keeping  Mildred  entirely  to  yourself  the 
solution  would  be  over.  An  aunt  can  love  as 
a  veritable  mother,  and  your  little  sister  of 
eighteen  is  just  the  sweet,  flowery,  womanly 
type  that  I  would  like  best  to  own.  Old  argu- 
ments are  more  distasteful  than  new  ones,  how- 
ever, so  we  will  not  go  over  that  ground  again. 


14       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

Only  help  me  quickly,  with  your  unfailing  judg- 
ment, in  my  frantic  search  for  a  family ! 

Eumor  reaches  me  that  Frank  Orison  Hol- 
land is  often  at  your  home.  How  grave  your 
responsibility  must  be  becoming  with  the  grow- 
ing flower-heart  in  your  charge.  Perhaps  soon 
you  will  have  to  lose  some  of  your  ogre-guard- 
the-princess  ways,  and  call  upon  a  mere  aunt  for 
advice,  since  Mildred  is  now  permitted  callers. 

It  is  splendid  though,  isn't  it,  how  Orison  is 
succeeding!  He  is  already  a  part  of  Williston 
and  Williston;  and  even  from  the  few  glimpses 
I  have  had  of  him,  I  pronounce  him  a  man 
worth  while.  There  is  something  puzzling 
about  him,  however.  He  possesses  that  inde- 
scribable note  of  appeal — a  suggestion  of  some 
real  trouble,  bravely  suppressed — that  only 
adds  to  his  personality  and  interest.  The  fact 
that,  in  spite  of  his  mature  dignity  and  note  of 
reserve,  there  is  sometimes  the  faintest  rumor 
of  some  long-ago  sowing  of  wild  oats  does  not 
detract  at  all  from  the  luster  of  his  popularity. 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       15 

He  is  certainly  as  big  a  social  success  as  little 
Mildred  promises  to  be  in  her  purity  and  her 
bloom. 

But  here  comes  Dr.  Forrester  up  the  lane 
driveway  with  his  single  cart  and  favorite  black 
horse.  He  is  stopping,  I  know,  to  see  if  there  is 
any  mail  he  can  take  over  to  the  village.  He 
is  always  so  thoughtful  about  every  little  detail. 
And  truly,  Teddy,  he  is  a  real  comfort  in  these 
empty  days.  He  knows  just  how  I  feel  about 
loving  Billy  on  and  on  into  and  through  eter- 
nity, and  will  never  impose  upon  the  friendship 
between  himself  and  me.  He  understands  bet- 
ter than  any  one  else  what  a  splendid  big  man 
Billy  was  in  his  college  days  and  afterwards. 
And  he  likes  to  talk  of  him,  just  as  I  do,  for  very 
admiration  and  love  of  such  a  man. 

He  is  climbing  out  now  with  his  arms  full  of 
brilliantly  turned  leaves.  Nothing  lovely  in  na- 
ture seems  to  escape  his  attention.  If  only  you 
could  run  down  right  away  for  a  week  with 
Mildred  to  share  the  autumn  glory  of  our  moun- 


16       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

tain-sides !  But  I  realize  how  heavily  you  are 
chained  with  the  big  affairs  of  others — so  shall 
wait  anxiously  for  your  letter.  Please  give  my 
love  to  dearest  Mildred,  and  accept  a  fond  good- 
night to  yourself  from  YOUB  ANXIOUS 

SlSTEB-AuNT. 


LETTER  II 

Edward  Clifton  Aliston  to  His  Aunt, 
Mrs.  William  Howard  Thompson — but  an 
Evening  Later. 

Mr  DEAR  SISTER-AUNT: 

My  hour  of  harmony  with  all  that  is  best 
and  most  beautiful  in  life  comes  a  little  later 
than  yours.  At  twilight — if  there  are  no  extra 
demands — I  am  just  closing  the  lid  of  my  of- 
fice-desk, preparatory  to  a  plunge  into  the  bril- 
liantly lit  streets  below.  Twilight  here  is  only 
a  softening  of  the  blackness  and  rigidity  of  our 
looming  down-town  buildings.  I  have  to  close 
my  eyes  very  tightly  to  hear  the  tinkle  of 
the  sheep-bells  on  your  stately  mountain-sides 
when  I  walk  or  ride  among  these  quarters. 
But  now  I  hear  it  clearly  in  what  I  call, 
my  hour.  It  is  eight  o'clock.  The  maid  has 

17 


18       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

tiptoed  in  to  see  that  the  electroliers  are  prop- 
erly chosen  for  light  effect.  She  has  a  certain 
taste,  too.  It  is  the  lamps  shielded  by  the  rich 
clusters  of  grapes,  and  those  within  the  droop- 
ing clematis-shades  that  you  chose  for  me  last 
Christmas  that  she  has  turned  on  to-night. 
Herbert  has  "butlered"  his  last  round  for  the 
evening  with  the  usual  bunch  of  magazines  and 
papers.  Above,  I  hear  the  ring  of  Mildred's 
care-free  laugh.  She  is  busy  with  a  friend  over 
costumes  they  expect  to  wear  at  one  of  those 
Pocket-Extortion  church-fairs,  soon  to  come. 
I  have  tried  to  bribe  her  to  let  me  off  with  fifteen 
dollars  and  Absence  I  But  she  says,  no!  I 
must  face  the  cannon-mouth  and  squander  a 
good  twenty-five  for  the  bib-aprons  and  dust- 
caps,  which,  later,  I  must  wear  to  my  office,  waiv- 
ing all  conventional  demands  in  dress,  or  else 
never  see  again !  Little  sister  is  fast  assuming 
a  new  role  with  her  growing  years.  I  some- 
times wonder  who  really  is  in  charge — the 
"Ogre"  or  the  "Princess."  But  in  the  more 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       19 

serious  questions  of  life  she  accepts  my  verdict 
without  a  murmur.  I  think  this  will  ever  be  her 
way. 

Little  Tcmte,  you  couldn't  have  come  to  me  for 
advice  concerning  the  adoption  of  a  daughter  at 
a  greater  moment  of  appeal.  For  several 
weeks  I  have  scarcely  been  able  to  hold  pen  from 
paper  to  write  you  of  this  very  matter.  But  I 
have  waited  for  the  possible  opening  of  the  sub- 
ject by  yourself.  Ernestine,  you  are  right. 
Nothing  will  better  help  you  endure  the  empti- 
ness left  in  your  home  by  Billy's  going  than  the 
presence  of  a  sweet  young  girl,  who,  in  the  very 
nature  of  things,  will  love  you  from  the  mo- 
ment she  sees  you ;  and  upon  whom  you  will  be- 
stow your  gracious  attention  and  charm  and  un- 
selfish thought,  until  you  find  that  she  has  in- 
deed filled  a  veritable  need  in  your  aching  heart 
But  it  must  be  some  other  girl  than  Mildred. 

You  know  well,  Ernestine,  the  especially 
sacred  conditions  governing  her  raising.  I 
shall  never  forget  the  look  of  perfect  faith  in 


20       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

dear  Mother's  eyes  when  she  slipped  the  tiny 
sister  hand  into  mine  and  asked  that  I  keep  the 
little  girl,  eighteen  years  my  junior,  for  whom 
she  was  giving  her  life,  constantly  within  my 
care.  Her  plea  was  that  I  raise  her  pure  and 
sweet  and  womanly  until  that  time  should  come 
when  she  must  naturally  go  out  to  be  the  strong 
little  wife  of  some  truly  worthy  man.  God 
knows  I  have  tried  to  keep  the  trust.  I  could 
not  break  it,  even  for  you;  nor,  much  as  she 
loves  you,  do  I  think  that  Mildred  herself  would 
consent  to  this. 

There  is  one  young  girl,  however,  whom  I 
sincerely  wish  you  could  consider.  The  men- 
tion of  her  type  even  will  startle  you  at  first; 
but  when  you  enter  into  your  deepest  and  tru- 
est thoughts  you  may  be  able  to  see  it  as  I  do. 
And  what  you  could  mean  to  her  with  your 
warm  nature,  your  broad  views,  and  your  pop- 
ular and  assured  position  in  the  social  world 
would  be  past  expressing.  I  have  not  even 
seen  her,  but  Williston,  Senior,  has  spoken  to 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       21 

me  of  her  graphically  several  times.  Her  name 
is  Harriet  Glenn.  She  is  a  girl  who  went  astray 
in  a  moment  of  weakness ;  but  who  is  trying  so 
bravely  to  live  out  her  ostracism  in  the  vil- 
lage where  the  truth  is  known.  Her  only 
friend  is  old  rheumatic  Mrs.  Johnson,  with 
whom  she  resides  at  the  edge  of  the  town ;  and 
kind-hearted  Williston  tells  me  that  the  hun- 
gry look  in  the  girl's  tragic  dark  eyes  shows 
how  little  companionship  there  is  in  that  home; 
though  there  is  toleration — and  that  is  more 
than  any  other  saintly  woman  in  this  place 
is  willing  to  give! 

Ernestine,  I  am  not  excusing  her  sin.  It  is 
truly  the  most  unaccountable  and  the  saddest 
that  this  old  world  knows.  In  all  honesty, 
however,  neither  am  I  able  to  take  the  high  seat 
of  judgment  that  demands  ostracism.  On  the 
contrary,  the  thought  of  this  girl  haunts  me 
often.  "Were  I  in  a  position,  married,  and  Mil- 
dred out  of  my  care,  I  should  certainly  try  to 
reach  and  aid  her — even  if  it  had  to  be  ac- 


22       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

complished  through  an  invitation  to  my  home. 
Williston,  Senior,  is  childless,  and  has  ever 
longed  for  a  daughter.  He  would  gladly  adopt 
Harriet  Glenn,  if  his  wife  would  only  depart 
a  whit  from  her  squeamish  views.  Mrs.  Wil- 
liston is  a  brilliant  leader  and  a  most  capable 
president  of  the  clubs  for  better  morals  and 
better  babies.  She  is  chairman  also  of  the  so- 
ciety for  the  Prevention  of  the  White  Slave 
Traffic;  but  evidently  her  code  of  action  is  an 
energetic  dealing  with  possible  future  wrongs, 
rather  than  a  merciful  sisterhood  for  those 
guilty  of  past  errors ! 

You  are  broader,  Ernestine.  You  surely  be- 
lieve with  me  that  it  is  not  always  the  low  and 
debased  that  follow  this  doleful  path;  but,  in 
rare  cases,  those  of  a  refined  but  unfortunately 
hypersensitive  nature,  who  love  beyond  their 
strength.  Harriet  Glenn  I  believe  to  be  one 
of  this  class.  Williston  tells  me  her  every 
movement  breathes  grace  and  refinement.  Her 
every  start  and  flush  show  an  over-sensitive 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       23 

nature,  as  capable  of  extreme  good  as  of  evil. 
Her  face,  he  calls  a  perfect  tragedy;  and  her 
eyes  deep  fires  of  pleading — pleading  that  the 
stern  bars  of  justice,  governing  her  sex,  may 
be  let  down  just  a  little,  and  some  leniency 
shown,  in  her  sincere  repentance  for  what  the 
world  has  chosen  to  call  her  unpardonable  sin. 
God  has  many  self-appointed  jurists,  who  dare 
to  assist  Him  in  the  judgments  that  must  be 
meted.  And  the  wonderful  part  is  that  it  is 
tender-hearted  woman  who,  from  time  im- 
memorial, has  exulted  in  playing  this  role.  I 
sincerely  believe,  Ernestine,  that  if  any  mortal 
had  dared  answer  our  Lord's  challenge  con- 
cerning the  erring  woman,  it  would  have  been 
some  chaste,  proud-souled  woman  who  stooped 
to  hurl  the  first  stone.  But  you  are  too  just 
and  too  tender  for  such  views. 

You  speak  lightly,  Ernestine,  of  Orison's 
days  of  wild-oats  sowing;  and  evidently  think 
him  a  desirable  suitor  for  little  Mildred 's  hand. 
I  know  this  view  of  a  man's  having  a  perfect 


24       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

right  to  expect  and  demand  in  a  woman  the 
strength  and  purity  he  is  in  nowise  able  to  give 
himself  is  the  only  popular  one.  Custom 
laughs  at  any  other  situation.  But  why? 
Modern  eugenics  prove  that  streams  on  both 
sides  should  run  pure  and  strong  to  make  the 
perfect  blend ;  and  a  deeper  understanding  will 
not  permit  one  much  longer  to  laugh  at  a  fault 
in  one  sex  and  condemn  it  utterly  in  the  other. 
I  can  make  no  distinction  honestly  in  my  heart 
when  it  comes  to  morals.  So  the  man  who 
would  win  Mildred  must  prove  himself  worthy 
of  her.  You  know  her — as  pure  and  whole- 
some a  type  of  womanhood  as  it  is  possible  to 
find — with  nothing  to  foist,  all  to  give.  Yes, 
even  Frank  Orison  Holland,  if  he  comes  to  me 
about  Mildred,  will  have  to  prove  his  record 
clear;  though,  as  you  say,  he  appears  one  of 
the  most  thorough,  courteous,  refined,  and 
sincere  men  of  the  present  hour,  and,  in  addi- 
tion, is  one  of  my  very  closest  friends. 
I  am  not  at  all  surprised  that  Dr.  Forrester 


THE  SIXGLE-CODE  GIRL       25 

drops  in  now  and  then  to  help  pass  away  the 
time.  Platonic  friendship  is,  sometimes,  com- 
forting— at  least  on  one  side.  I  sincerely  wish 
that  I,  too,  could  run  down  to  cheer  you.  But 
this  is  our  rushed  season,  and  I  fear  that 
Christmas  will  be  the  nearest  time  I  can  get 
away.  Mildred  may  join  you  sooner  unless 
you  answer  our  earnest  invitation  to  visit  us 
here.  I  await  your  decision  most  anxiously. 
YOUR  NEPHEW,  TED. 


LETTER  III 

Mrs.  William  Howard  Thompson,  in  Im- 
mediate Reply  to  Edward  Clifton  Aliston. 

EDWABD! 

In  all  the  days  of  our  childhood  friendship, 
when  you  seemed  as  near  and  dear  as  a  brother, 
and  in  the  many  years  that  have  followed,  you 
have  never  said  one  thing  to  vex  or  hurt  me. 
But  now  that  I  am  so  utterly  lonesome  and  un- 
shielded, you  have  tactlessly  wounded — oh,  if 
it  were  possible  with  you — I  could  even  say 
insulted  me  with  the  suggestion  in  your  letter. 

I  asked  you  in  all  good  faith  to  help  me  find 
a  solace  for  my  desolation.  A  girl  so  sweet 
and  pure  and  womanly  that  I  could  take  her 
gladly  and  rightfully  into  fearfully  lonesome 
arms,  and  love  her  as  my  very  own.  And  in 
reply  you  suggest  a  person  who  has  so  debased 
herself,  so  lost  every  trace  of  womanhood  and 

26 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       27 

decency  that  one  must  almost  shudder  to  pass 
her  in  the  street ! 

Why,  even  Dr.  Forrester,  who  dropped  in 
with  your  letter,  was  utterly  without  words 
when  I  told  him  a  little  of  what  you  had  pro- 
posed. I  never  saw  him  so  excited.  His  eyes 
shone  as  though  they  were  suddenly  filled  with 
fever;  and  time  and  again  he  walked  back  and 
forth  between  the  grate-fire  and  the  window, 
his  hands  clasped  behind  his  back,  as  they  al- 
ways are  when  he  is  thinking  deeply.  Once  or 
twice  he  opened  his  lips  as  though  he  wanted 
very  much  to  tell  me  something,  but  when  he 
spoke  it  was  of  an  entirely  different  matter. 
He  was  far  too  generous  to  seem  disloyal  to 
you,  even  to  the  extent  of  criticism. 

Oh,  Edward,  how  could  you !  It  hurts  more 
than  you  can  ever  know. EBNESTINE. 


LETTER  IY 

Edward  Clifton  Aliston  to  Mrs.  William 
Howard  Thompson.  By  Special  Delivery, 
October  Eighth. 

ERNESTINE  : 

I  am  grieved  beyond  words  that  you  could 
have  translated  my  clumsy  appeal  to  your  lib- 
erality so  strangely.  I  am  still  of  the  same 
opinion  as  regards  equality  of  justice  for  both 
sexes;  but  I  will  try  never  to  mention  Har- 
riet Glenn's  name  again.  You  will  write  me 
immediately  that  I  am  forgiven?  And  if  I  can 
be  of  any  service  to  you  in  this  matter  now,  I 
will  try  the  best  in  my  power  to  arrange  for  a 
week  off.  You  know  there  is  nothing  I 
wouldn't  do  for  one  who  has  ever  been  so  deeply 
thoughtful  of  Mildred  and  me.  It  is  truly  a 
miserable  knowledge  that  I  have  hurt  you,  been 

28 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       29 

so  completely  misunderstood,  and  failed  you  so 
wretchedly  in  your  quest. 

Most   affectionately  yours. EDWABD   C. 

ALISTON. 


LETTER  V 

Mrs.    William   Hoivard    Thompson.    In 
Reply.     October  Tenth. 

TEDDY : 

You  are  too  confirmed  a  bachelor  to  under- 
stand that  a  woman's  mood  is  greatly  con- 
trolled by  atmospherical  conditions.  Of  course 
I  know  now,  as  I  realized  subconsciously  all 
along,  that  it  would  be  utterly  impossible  for 
you  to  think,  say  or  write  one  word  to  any 
woman  that  would  meaningly  annoy  or  hurt. 
But  it  was  raining  when  I  answered  your  let- 
ter— just  raining  cascades,  Teddy — and  the 
grove  of  pine-trees  along  my  driveway  was 
dark  and  blotchy  and  shivery  with  cold  tears, 
so  that  everything  seemed  at  its  worst.  It  re- 
minded me  of  that  dreadful  day  when  Billy 
rode  off  for  his  "  rain-bath, "  so  strong  and 

30 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       31 

handsome  on  his  big  black  horse;  and  then 
came  back — oh,  Teddy,  but  just  a  few  wee  min- 
utes later — so  still  and  white  on  the  stretcher 
that  the  forestry-men  improvised,  with  no  vis- 
ible reason  for  leaving  me  but  that  one  dread- 
ful bruise,  running  its  purple  shadow  across 
his  temple  and  up  into  his  curls  I 

But  it  is  cowardly  of  me  to  dwell  on  this. 
Billy  would  have  me  brave,  I  know;  and  I  am 
going  to  do  my  best  to  lose  myself  now  in  get- 
ting ready  for  Christmas,  when  Mildred  and 
you  can  snatch  a  little  time  to  give  to  me.  This 
is  only  early  October,  but  I  pray  the  days  may 
hurry  by  somehow,  someway! — And,  Teddy, 
I  am  the  one  to  be  forgiven.  Mention  the  poor 
girl  whenever  you  wish.  You  are  certainly 
generous  of  heart,  dear!  But  Mrs.  Williston 
is  perfectly  right.  Never,  never  expect  me  to 
do  such  a  fanatical,  utterly  impossible  thing  as 
to  open  my  doors  to  one  of  her  kind,  however 
much  I  might  long  to  humor  a  whim  of  yours ! 
Dear  boy,  you  surely  understand! 


32       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

With  so  much  love  for  you  and  Mildred — 
tell  her  I  will  take  every  dust-cap  and  apron 
she  makes  herself. EBNESTINE. 


LETTER  VI 

Edward  Clifton  Aliston  in  reply  to  a 
Talk  with  Frank  Orison  Holland.  October 
Seventeenth. 

DEAB  FRANK: 

It  would  be  a  false  statement  if  I  declared 
our  talk,  just  three  evenings  ago,  when  you  con- 
fessed your  love  for  my  sister,  and  I  asked  a 
little  time  before  answering,  was  an  awakening. 
I  have  felt  that  it  could  not  be  otherwise  on 
your  part  after  a  growing  acquaintance  with 
a  woman  of  Mildred's  strength.  I  am  almost 
positive  that  no  feeling  but  the  friendship  she 
bears  for  her  many  callers  has  entered  into  her 
mind  for  you — but  that  part  belongs  to  her 
alone.  Your  "  credentials  "  as  to  business  abil- 
ity and  worldly-ownings  are  still  on  my  desk, 
sealed.  They  will  come  back  to  you  in  the  same 

33 


34       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

condition.  Associating  as  closely  with  you  in 
business  and  social  life  as  I  have  for  the  last 
two  years,  there  is  no  need  of  this  form  of 
" proof"  concerning  your  eligibility.  Sane 
perception  shows  you  a  serious  man,  able  to 
grasp  situations  and  honestly  win.  In  four 
words — A  Man  Worth  While.  Your  family, 
too,  is  on  an  equality  with  our  own.  There  is 
still  another  question,  however,  which  even  a 
man's  closest  friend  can  not  answer  for  him: 

Frank  Orison  Holland,  in  seeking  the  love 
of  my  little  sister,  are  you  able  to  offer  to  her 
in  your  own  life  what  you  know  her  pure  soul, 
her  tender  loving  heart,  her  high  ideals  would 
lead  her  to  expect  and  have  a  right  to  ask? 
What  you  would  demand  in  her.  What  the 
world  has  a  right  to  expect  for  the  foundation 
of  a  possible  future  generation? 

I  shall  go  to  no  outside  proof  for  the  con- 
firmation of  this  point.  Gossip  has  it  other- 
wise at  times;  but,  to  me,  gossip  is  simply  the 
hurtling  of  exaggerations  on  idle  or  jealous 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL      35 

tongues.  When  you  tell  me  that  you  have  lived 
a  clean,  vigorous  life,  it  will  be  all-sufficient; 
and  no  one  will  be  more  gladly  welcomed  by 
me  in  our  home  than  you,  Frank. Most  cor- 
dially, EDWARD  C.  ALISTON. 


LETTER  VII 

Frank  Orison  Holland.  In  Reply.  Oc- 
tober Twenty-Second. 

DEAR  ED: 

Your  letter,  while  I  can  not  but  admire  its 
frankness  and  justice,  has  saddened  me — made 
of  me  a  man  older  by  ten  years.  It  has  seemed 
to  me  of  late  that  I  must  win  your  sister; 
though  I  fully  appreciate  my  own  or  any  man's 
unworthiness  to  possess  the  love  of  a  woman, 
so  finely  constructed  in  every  way.  "A  Touch 
of  God's  Best  Handiwork,"  she  has  ever 
seemed  to  me.  But  I  can  not  stand  before  you 
honestly  and  deny  that  I  have  sowed  some 
pretty  serious  wild  oats. 

If  I  had  owned  a  wise  man's  knowledge  of 
circumstances  and  a  less  adventurous  spirit,  I 
would  surely  have  appreciated  the  fact  that 

36 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       37 

strong,  effectual  manhood  is  won  only  by  fol- 
lowing the  one  straight  clean  path  of  perpetual 
Self-Control.  As  it  was,  with  a  noted  profes- 
sor, ever  buried  deep  in  his  books,  for  a  father ; 
and  a  beautiful  invalid-mother,  veiled  from 
earliest  memory  in  soft  laces,  silken  covers, 
shadowy  couch-corners,  and  delicate  flower- 
fragrance,  I  had  little  of  the  frankly  interested 
explanation  that  is  the  only  fair  treatment  for 
a  boy.  I  took  many  of  my  first  lessons  from 
the  strictly  material,  impersonal  world.  The 
falsely  reasoning  world  that  tells  you  that  to 
know  the  full  value  of  fresh  air  and  joyous  sun- 
shine, you  must  first  take  a  deep  whiff  of  cel- 
lar-damp and  alley-closeness.  The  malicious 
world  that  assures  you  doses  of  dangerous 
poisons  should  be  swallowed  before  you  can 
appreciate  the  cleanness  and  strength  of  spar- 
kling and  health-giving  drinks.  The  cunning 
world  that  whispers  that  you  with  your  fine 
will-power  can  stop  anything  at  any  time.  The 
insidiously  fawning  world  that  suggests,  since 


38       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

this  and  that  has  to  be,  why  not  you — you  who 
are  so  fine-principled  that  you  can  give  much 
higher  "protection"  than  the  other  poor  cuss. 
The  time-seasoned,  knowing  world  that  says 
finally,  when  drugs  and  drink  flow  at  their  high- 
est, and  Bravado  rides  King  Supreme,  "Ah, 
well,  what  matters  it!  It  will  do  your  name, 
your  station,  your  future  successes  no  lasting 
harm.  It  may  only  lend  them  an  interesting 
luster — for  you  are  a  man,  and  the  danger  of 
ostracism  is  slight  indeed." 

Edward,  give  me  one  chance.  I  have  sowed 
wild  oats;  but  they  were  surely  not  of  such  a 
serious  nature  that  you  would  make  them  the 
cause  for  shutting  me  out  of  Paradise!  Let 
me  detail  a  plan.  I  have  tried  to  keep  from 
my  memory  certain  trips  into  the  by-paths  of 
youth.  Sometimes  it  has  been  fierce  work,  on 
account  of  my  deep  regret  at  their  happening; 
but  at  such  times  I  have  rushed  on  in  frenzy  at 
my  business  with  a  hope  of  obtaining  oblivion. 
Now  I  mean  to  stop  being  so  cowardly,  and 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       39 

to  spend  this  month,  granted  me  for  a  vacation, 
in  an  honest  review  of  my  life,  and  a  thorough 
searching  into  the  consequences  of  my  careless, 
youthful  escapades,  so  far  as  it  is  possible  to 
ascertain  them.  I  will  go  to  my  county-home 
at  Ellison  Grove,  where  I  can  think  quietly, 
leaving  only  for  necessary  trips  of  investiga- 
tion. During  that  time  I  will  not  write  one 
word  to  Mildred;  but  as  fast  as  possible  send 
a  statement  to  you,  as  frank  as  man  can  write 
to  man.  I  will  take  up  the  eight  types  of  women 
it  has  been  my  lot  to  know  either  for  better  or 
for  worse.  The  names  of  the  first  seven  will 
naturally  be  fictitious,  as  the  situation  demands 
it.  If,  in  the  end,  you  feel  that  there  is  any 
hope  for  me,  you  will  wire  me  at  once,  realiz- 
ing what  each  instant  of  suspense  means  to  me? 
I  fully  understand  that,  reared  into  new  broad 
views  as  she  has  been,  Mildred  will  in  every 
way  coincide  with  you — even  to  the  refusal  of 
the  desperate  resort  of  elopement!  Please  do 
not  let  her  know  of  this  as  yet. 


40       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

Sometimes  I  think  that  young  men  instead  of 
overrating  their  worth  and  power,  as  is  so 
often  charged  to  them,  underestimate  it  sadly. 
They  can  not  possibly  appreciate  what  deep 
scars  they  are  capable  of  making  for  life  with 
what  seemed  only  a  careless  incident  to  them. 
God  grant  the  wild  oats  I  have  thoughtlessly 
sown  have  not  sprung  into  a  tangled  mass  of 
weeds ! 

Yours  most  sincerely,  FRANK  ORISON 

HOLLAND. 


LETTER  VIII 

Edward  Clifton  Aliston  to  Holland. 
Written  at  His  Home  Desk  on  the  Evening 
of  Receipt  of  Letter. 

DEAB  FBANK: 

Most  certainly  you  shall  have  the  "  chance. " 
I  hardly  consider  myself  eligible  as  a  judge  to 
sit  in  verdict  upon  any  clean  man's  past,  how- 
ever. But  in  accordance  with  my  promise  in 
regard  to  Mildred,  perhaps  I'd  better  attempt 
the  part.  I  shall  wait  for  your  complete  re- 
port before  answering,  as  that  will  give  me  a 
better  opportunity  for  judging  fairly.  No 
doubt  you  simply  imagine  you  have  sowed  wild 
oats  on  account  of  your  over-sensitive  nature. 
I  know  you  agree  with  me  that  it  is  certainly 
best  to  follow  the  moral  road  from  the  start; 
but  certainly  none  of  us  treads  any  line  of  per- 

41 


42       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

fection!  I  have  a  thousand  and  one  weak 
points.  Your  record  is  probably  much,  much 
better.  I  can  imagine  little  or  nothing  of  seri- 
ous import  from  a  man  with  as  clean  and  reso- 
lute a  face  as  yours.  So,  I  bid  you,  God-speed ! 
on  the  journey;  and  a  lot  of  fresh  air  and 
good  fishing  to  fill  in  your  needed  rest ! 

Cordially,  EDWAKD  CLIFTON  ALISTON. 


LETTER  IX 

First  Report  from  Frank  Orison  Holland 
to  Ed/ward  Clifton  Aliston.  Concerning  His 
First  Sweetheart.  October  Twenty-Sixth, 
at  Ellison  Grove. 

DEAE  ED  : 

It  was  my  French  nurse,  Marie,  I  think, 
who  gave  me  my  first  impressions  of  woman- 
hood. I  was  just  turned  seven,  and  she  had 
arranged  my  curls  over  my  lace  collar  with 
greatest  care,  preparatory  for  the  last  picture 
I  was  to  have  taken  before  losing  this  girlish  en- 
cumbrance : 

"Ah,  my  dear  love,"  she  cried,  placing  me 
high  on  a  beautiful  inlaid  table,  "it  is  the 
hearts  of  the  women,  then,  that  he  will  break 
from  start  to  finish  with  his  glorious  looks! 
Just  wait  till  he  enters  Madam's  school  on  the 

43 


44       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

Monday.  It  will  begin  then  with  the  prettiest 
girls  in  the  room.  Take  nurse  Marie's  word 
for  that!" 

I  remember  I  felt  very  nncomf ortable  at  this 
startling  announcement,  being  warm-hearted 
then  and  not  at  all  anxious  to  shatter  hearts; 
but  my  faith  in  my  one  constant  companion  was 
implicit.  To  Marie,  I  was  accustomed  to  carry 
my  every  joy  and  woe ;  for  she  was  my  only  pos- 
sible confidante.  Before  I  was  quite  three  I  had 
learned  that  if  I  ever  attempted  to  enter  the 
shadowy,  fragrant  room  where  my  beautiful 
mother  lay  so  still  on  the  couch  among  silken 
pillows,  in  the  midst  of  too  sweet  flowers,  I  was 
met  by  a  white-capped  nurse  at  the  very  door- 
sill,  and  gently  but  firmly  discouraged  from  in- 
truding. With  my  father,  it  was  much  the 
same  way.  I  had  no  real  longing,  it  is  true, 
ever  to  enter  the  big  oaken-paneled  library, 
where  my  dignified  parent  sat  constantly  at 
work  among  the  huge  books  that  ran  the  four 
walls  in  their  dully  gleaming  cases.  But,  now 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       45 

and  then,  with  a  child's  bravado,  and  the  wish 
born  of  denial,  I  would  pause  in  the  hallway, 
just  outside  the  door,  and  wait  in  vain  for  a 
possible  word  of  welcome.  Here  faithful  Marie 
would  find  me,  a  moment  later,  and  covering 
me  with  her  apron,  as  though  to  shield  me  from 
some  actual  bodily  harm,  would  hurry  me  down 
the  thickly  carpeted  hall,  a  nervous  trembling 
in  her  limbs. 

"Oh,  mon  cher,"  she  pleaded  with  me  con- 
stantly, " never,  never  do  that  again!  Don't 
you  know  your  father  is  a  great,  great  man, 
who  mustn't  be  disturbed  an  instant?  He 
found  such  a  quantity  of  wcfrm-eaten  lettered 
parchment  on  his  trip  to  Egypt;  and  now  he 
puts  it  all  into  book  form — to  so  help  the  world ! 
Many  learned  professors  come  often  clean 
across  the  sea-basin  to  consult  him.  He  only 
leaves  his  work  when  he  goes  at  morning  and 
twilight  to  visit  your  poor  beautiful  mother, 
whom  he  loves  better  than  his  life ! ' ' 

Marie's  predictions  concerning  womanhood 


46       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

showed  an  early  budding  of  conviction.  Upon 
the  morrow  after  her  conversation  with  me  con- 
cerning the  opposite  sex,  with  hair  cut  so  close 
that  the  annoying  curls  were  only  little  lines  of 
wriggles,  I  started  out  to  meet  educational  de- 
mands. This  pursuit,  Marie  assured  me  com- 
fortingly, would  never  let  up  for  me  now. 

At  first  I  clung  very  close  to  Marie's  hand, 
for  I  had  seen  Madam  once ;  and  the  Construc- 
tive Angels  had  not  designed  her  after  a  pat- 
tern to  inspire  ease  or  love  in  children.  My 
fear  was  soon  lost  in  a  more  pleasant  sensation, 
however;  for  as  we  passed  a  big  white-stone 
house  on  our  way,  I  noticed  another  nurse  lead- 
ing a  dainty  little  girl,  with  a  sunshine  of  yel- 
low curls,  down  the  long  walk  to  the  gate.  Un- 
consciously, I  at  once  drew  my  fist  quickly  out 
of  Marie's  warm  protection. 

"Ah,  that  is  the  way  it  will  be!"  exclaimed 
my  nurse  with  all  the  anguished  sentiment  pos- 
sible with  her  race.  "Poor  Marie  lost  her 
baby  yesterday,  when  those  lovely  brown  curls 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       47 

were  cut.  And  to-day  she  has  lost  the  confi- 
dence of  her  nice  big  boy-man!" 

"Will  she  care  for  me,  Marie?"  I  asked  with 
a  sudden  horror  at  doing  damage  to  this  beau- 
tiful little  girl.  I  was  still  looking  back,  in 
spite  of  myself,  at  the  solemn  nurse  and  her 
dainty  charge,  who  had  just  come  through  the 
high-arched  gate,  and  were  turning  our  way. 

"Ah,  that  she  will;  then,  break  her  pretty 
heart  over  you,  for  you  will  be  her  very  own 
kind.  Her  father  is  a  senator,  very  wise  and 
rich  and  good;  and  she,  too,  starts  at  Madam's 
to-day.  Paul,  the  butler  at  her  home,  told  me 
that  very  thing  last  night.  You  will  see  her 
every  day." 

"But,  Marie,"  I  implored,  hesitating  slightly 
in  my  path,  "I  won't  go  on,  then.  I  don't  want 
to  hurt  her — the  pretty  little  girl.  I  can't  bear 
to  do  her  harml" 

Marie  laughed  so  long  and  hard  that  she 
grew  fairly  purple  in  the  face;  but  at  last  she 
controlled  herself  and  seized  me  by  the  shoul- 


48       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

der  with  a  playful  shake.  "Ah,  my  blessed 
babe,"  she  exulted,  "he  didn't  lose  all  his  inno- 
cence with  the  shearing  of  his  curls.  Now  did 
he!  It  is  the  finest  thing  in  the  world — this 
treading  over  hearts.  And,  take  it  from  me, 
if  you  don't  do  it — she  will!  It's  a  favorite 
game  with  clever  women — to  coquette  cruelly 
with  men — and  it  begins  when  a  baby -girl  first 
lifts  her  silken  lashes  and  looks  up  into  this 
big  world  of  ours ! ' ' 

Marie's  words,  by  no  means  fully  compre- 
hended, offered  to  my  sadly  matured  mind  a 
glimmer  of  possibilities  that  kept  me  on  the  de- 
fensive for  several  days.  I  was  determined 
not  to  wound  the  little  girl,  who  grew  sweeter 
and  sweeter  with  each  breath  she  drew,  but  I 
was  equally  on  the  guard  against  any  barbed 
nets  she  might  artfully  cast  my  way. 

I  learned  my  first  valuable  lessons,  however, 
in  those  few  first  days  at  Madam 's :  No  clever 
woman,  in  bud  or  flower,  works  from  the  out- 
side in.  She  is  far  less  clumsy  than  man. 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       49 

Her  artifices  are  so  subtly  laid  that  she  can 
deny  their  very  existence  at  any  moment  she 
chooses.  And  still  man  is  compelled!  Upon 
the  fourth  day  I  laid  my  orange  on  Evelina 
Buckingham's  desk,  and  received  at  once  a 
dimpled,  but  entirely  unsurprised  smile  that 
left  me  completely  disarmed. 

After  that  Marie  and  I  always  arrived  early 
at  the  big  arched  gate,  and  were,  invariably, 
joined  by  Evelina  and  Agnes,  her  nurse.  The 
little  girl  and  I  would  then  stroll  on  before, 
while  our  faithful,  but  light-headed  guardians 
chattered  gayly,  and  often  most  indiscreetly 
about  our  "cuteness,"  and  our  making  such 
splendid  "little  sweethearts." 

At  the  end  of  the  first  week,  however,  we  did 
not  need  to  have  any  one  tell  us  this.  I  had 
purchased  a  gorgeously  carved  little  locket, 
with  money  saved  for  my  first  watch ;  and,  later, 
I  slipped  it  into  Evelina's  hand,  just  as  we  en- 
tered the  ivy-grown  door  of  Madam's  superior 
establishment,  with  the  usual  note  of  explana- 


50       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

tion  that  if  she  did  not  take  it  and  love  me  for- 
ever, I  would  find  a  lonely  spot  of  mossy  wood- 
land and  die  at  once. 

Evelina  also  seemed  loath  to  break  hearts 
willfully  or  cause  the  erection  of  mossy  graves. 
She  had  the  discretion,  however,  not  to  put  her 
own  feelings  into  writing.  She  did  not  even 
speak  a  word  of  love ;  but  I  could  not  help  see- 
ing her  shed  a  few  tears — no  doubt  at  the  mere 
thought  of  the  possible  premature  funeral. 
And  when  she  came  in  from  morning-recess, 
with  deep  blue  eyes  lowered  and  tossed  curls 
caressing  cheeks  of  the  loveliest  pink,  my  chain 
and  locket  glimmered  and  glittered  a  promise 
at  her  throat ! 

It  was  not  always  an  easy  road  of  love  after 
this.  Indeed  at  the  very  outset  our  hopes  were 
almost  extinguished.  Evelina's  mother  in- 
sisted that  her  little  girl  return  me  the  locket  at 
once,  and  it  was  only  my  sweetheart's  copious 
tears  and  the  intercession  of  an  aunt,  who  con- 
sidered everything  unnaturally  mature  in  chil- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       51 

dren  as  "dreadfully  cute,"  that  saved  the  day 
for  us.  This  Evelina's  nurse  confided  to  Ma- 
rie, that  I  might  know.  But  the  little  girl  was 
forbidden  to  receive  even  an  apple  from  me  as 
a  gift  in  the  future. 

Think  of  a  lover,  Ed,  languishing  to  express 
his  tender  sentiments,  and  not  being  able  to  ex- 
tend one  token  of  his  inner  confusion!  But, 
again,  Evelina  seemed  to  realize  the  agony  of 
the  situation,  and  tactfully  borrowed  my  eraser, 
and  let  me  sharpen  her  pencil  as  often  as  I 
chose.  Several  times  she  even  ventured  to  ac- 
cept bunches  of  violets  or  other  wild  flowers; 
for  even  in  her  child-mind  seemed  the  realiza- 
tion that  they  were  entirely  God's  property — 
not  mine.  Thus  passed  for  us  two  years,  in 
the  midst  of  sunshine  with  splotches  of  shadow, 
of  wondrous  happiness  whenever  it  came,  and 
undoubted  fidelity.  Then  the  crisis  bore  down 
upon  us. 

I  had  followed  the  pursuit  of  gathering 
birds'  eggs,  often  buying  them  at  exaggerated 


52       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

prices  from  the  older  boys,  for  my  desire  for 
a  great  number  was  keen,  and  my  pocket-money 
too  generous  from  the  start.  One  egg  I  treas- 
ured above  all  others,  that  of  a  rare  kind  of 
swallow  that  appeared  about  to  leave  our  part 
of  the  country  forever.  This  I  wrapped  in  blue 
tissue-paper,  one  morning  in  very  late  fall,  and 
conveying  it  with  utmost  care,  laid  it  upon  my 
lady-love's  desk.  This  gift,  I  reasoned,  was 
also  heavenly  property  in  a  way,  and,  therefore, 
permissible  for  Evelina  to  accept. 

But  at  noon  the  blue  tissue-package  was  back 
on  my  desk,  and  with  it  the  first  note  that  my 
little  girl  friend  had  ever  written  me.  In  it 
she  gave  me  to  understand  that  I  was  a  cruel 
wicked  monster.  She  had  thought  I  was  a  gen- 
tleman, she  continued  to  explain;  but  now  she 
knew  I  was  a  stony-hearted  Coward — and  she 
would  never,  never  walk  back  and  forth  with 
me  to  school  again ! 

Child- suffering  is  certainly  the  keenest 
known.  I  declare  I  shudder  yet,  Ed,  whenever 


THE  SIXGLE-CODE  GIRL       53 

I  think  of  that  little  note !  There  is  none  of  the 
accentuated  will-power  of  controlled  years,  nor 
the  philosophical  reasoning  that  perhaps,  after 
all,  it  is  a  most  fortunate  escape  or  a  mas- 
terful character-strengthener !  The  only  thing 
that  saved  me  from  dying  at  once,  upon  the  re- 
ceipt of  that  unexpected  charge,  was  that  my 
chain  and  locket  still  rose  and  fell  on  Evelina's 
white  throat.  But  even  then  I  was  in  a  frenzy 
for  fear  she  would  suddenly  remember,  and 
throw  that  back  at  me  across  the  few  interven- 
ing desks. 

At  dinner  that  evening  Marie,  with  whom  I 
always  ate  my  meals  in  spite  of  my  growing 
years,  was  thrown  into  a  state  of  despair.  I 
was  ill!  she  declared.  My  eyes  looked  full  of 
fever!  I  was  eating  nothing.  But  how  could 
she  tell  my  poor  lovely  mother,  whose  heart 
might  cease  beating  instantly  at  any  shock. 
And  my  father — ah,  there  were  seven  learned 
professors,  at  least,  shut  in  with  him  at  a  formal 
dinner.  He  must  have  discovered  some  grand 


54       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

new  help  to  the  world.  But  in  the  meanwhile 
— what  was  she  to  do ! 

At  last  my  enduring  power  gave  way.  Un- 
der Marie's  violent  solicitations,  I  fell  into  a 
state  of  nervous  confession.  I  had  been  dis- 
graced. I  had  been  called  the  worst,  the  very 
worst,  name  in  the  whole  world — a  coward. 
Evelina  would  never,  never  love  me  any  more ! 
She  would  not  even  walk  home  with  so  unfor- 
givable a  wretch ! 

Marie  listened  in  ejaculatory  indignation. 
Then  she  held  out  her  arms,  and,  for  the  last 
time  in  my  memory,  I  went  into  their  grateful 
protection,  as  her  soothing  ran  thus — A  coward 
indeed!  Her  big,  brave,  handsome  boy!  But 
had  she  not  told  me !  It  was  always  the  way. 
The  little  vixen — to  sharpen  her  arrow  with  the 
meanest  word  on  record!  Ah,  she  was  trying 
to  break  her  dear  boy's  heart.  Then  he  must 
quickly  break  hers  by  showing  he  didn't  care  a 
whit.  He  must  laugh  and  talk  and  walk  with 
every  other  girl  on  the  avenue  but  little  Eve- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       55 

Una.  Soon  she  would  wilt  and  pine,  and  then 
she  would  tell  him  he  was  not  a  coward  but  a 
gentleman.  Soon  she  would  beg  him,  indeed, 
to  be  her  best  friend  again !  For  life  was  only 
a  fighting  for  the  inaccessible.  In  this  art 
women  scrambled  even  higher  and  more  furi- 
ously than  men! 

I  listened  half  seriously  to  my  nurse's  vehe- 
ment assertions;  but  this  time  I  was  not  to  be 
persuaded  to  her  plan.  Even  at  that  early  age 
I  owned  a  decisiveness  that  was  inherited  di- 
rectly from  my  father.  "I  will  not  talk  with 
the  other  girls  on  the  avenue,"  I  asserted.  ''I 
will  never  speak  to  any  girl  again.  I  will  study 
and  grow  big  and  strong,  and  then  go  out  and 
dig  up  old  letters  and  jewelry,  to  help  the  world 
as  my  father  has  done!" 

Marie  was  so  impressed  with  my  noble  pur- 
poses that  she  did  not  even  disapprove  my  lack 
of  revengefulness  toward  the  other  sex.  She 
slipped  me  off  her  lap  into  a  big  chair,  and  cried 
a  little  into  her  white-strapped  apron,  and  mur- 


56       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

mured  something  about  my  being  as  brave  and 
wonderful  and  wise  at  nine  as  her  grandfather, 
who  was  really  a  wonderful  man,  had  been  in 
his  sixties.  During  this  tribute  to  my  mental 
and  moral  powers,  moved  by  some  unconquer- 
able impulse,  I  slipped  softly  from  the  chair 
out  of  the  room,  and  down  our  long  drive  to  the 
street. 

It  was  the  first  time  in  my  memory,  though 
I  blush  still  at  the  thought  of  such  protection, 
that  I  had  ever  been  on  this  sweep  of  wide,  elm- 
bordered  avenue  on  foot,  unattended!  The 
view,  under  my  new  independence  seemed  won- 
drously  splendid  both  ways.  We  had  eaten  an 
early  dinner,  but  the  street-lights  were  coming 
out  along  each  side  of  the  boulevard,  majestic 
beacons  of  safety  through  their  heavy  white- 
globed  sides.  At  one  end  of  the  street,  just 
visible  in  the  shadow,  the  sky  dropped  its  blue 
line  into  the  clear  waters  of  the  lake.  From  the 
other  direction  came  the  long  row  of  low- 
wheeled  carriages,  and  toss  of  spirited  horses' 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       57 

heads  belonging  to  those  returning  from  the 
business  districts  to  their  handsome  lake-front 
homes.  With  a  throbbing  sense  of  importance 
at  being  entirely  upon  my  own  responsibility, 
I  threw  out  my  chest  and  turned  with  the  pag- 
eant line,  as  though  pushed  by  some  compel- 
ling force,  down  the  avenue  toward  Senator 
Buckingham's  stately  dwelling. 

I  did  not  really  expect  to  see  little  Evelina. 
If  I  did,  I  told  myself,  it  could  not  be  of  the 
slightest  interest  to  a  youth  of  voluntary  her- 
mitage ;  but  the  test  of  my  new  resolution  came 
startlingly  soon.  Just  as  I  passed  beyond  the 
big  gate  and  began  to  cover  the  block  of  stone 
wall  that  surrounded  the  Buckingham  lawn,  I 
saw  her  slip  out  of  the  dark,  iron-wrought 
front  door,  bareheaded,  though  the  night  was 
very  chill.  She  seemed  like  a  little  restless 
spirit  in  a  soothing  cloud  of  floating  curls.  I 
watched  her,  fascinated,  for  she  was  making  di- 
rectly for  the  tiny  lake  that  lay  in  the  eastern 
slope  of  the  home  yard.  Over  it  glimmered  a 


58       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

thin  sheet  of  ice.  As  she  whirled  along  impetu- 
ously, her  feet  scarcely  touching  the  ground,  I 
caught  the  gleam  of  something  bright  over  her 
left  shoulder.  Then  I  saw  it  was  a  pair  of 
skates. 

Involuntarily  I  raised  my  voice.  "Evelina, 
don't !"  I  cried.  "This  is  the  first  night  of  the 
freeze.  It  won't  bear  a  feather!" 

She  heard  me,  for  she  stopped  suddenly,  lift- 
ing her  pointed  chin  with  a  touch  of  displeasure. 
Then  with  a  defiant  fling  of  her  heavy  curls  she 
was  off  again,  making  straight  for  the  lake  that 
was  touched  into  a  treacherously  gleaming 
smile  by  the  quick  fall  of  day  into  evening. 

Young  as  I  was,  my  first  instinct  was  to  fly 
fiercely  after  her,  seize  her  defiant  little  body  in 
my  sturdy  boy-arms,  and  make  her  turn  back 
to  the  house.  But  even  as  I  struggled  for  best 
inspiration,  the  name  she  had  called  me  came 
to  me  with  a  fresher  and  deeper  smart.  She 
had  chosen  the  meanest  of  qualities  known  to 
man — cowardice.  Now  she  should  see  that 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       59 

I  did  not  care  if  she  had  real  reason  to  think  me 
one.  This  because  I  felt  her  seeming  daring  to 
be  a  pose.  I  was  positive  that  she  would  never 
really  venture  on  the  thin  sheeting  of  ice. 

While  I  reasoned  thus  bitterly  with  fiercely 
conflicting  thoughts,  Evelina  sped  on  and  on. 
I  shall  never  forget  the  flash  of  her  little  lithe 
body,  nor  the  moan  of  the  wind  through  the 
big  naked-limbed  maples  above  me,  nor  the 
shrill  anguished  cry  of  a  bird  that  dropped  sud- 
denly from  some  place  out  of  the  sky  to  beat 
its  warning  wings  for  a  moment  directly  over 
Evelina 's  beautiful  head ;  then,  as  unexpectedly 
as  its  coming,  its  flying  upward  and  disappear- 
ing. 

At  the  bird's  cry  of  seeming  warning,  I  lost 
all  feeling  but  intense  alarm  concerning  Eve- 
lina, and,  vaulting  the  stone  wall,  I  rushed 
quickly  in  the  direction  of  the  silent  little  figure, 
now  stooping  over  her  skate-buckles.  But  my 
cowardly  delay  of  several  moments  cost  untold 
agony.  All  my  protests,  my  hurried  pleading, 


60       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

made  as  I  ran,  fell  on  unheeding  ears.  Before 
I  could  gain  her  side,  Evelina  arose,  turned  her 
back  full  upon  me  and  shot  out  on  the  gleaming 
sheet  that  cracked  and  opened  to  gurgling  ex- 
ultation even  at  the  first  touch  of  her  light 
form.  The  next  instant  she  threw  out  two 
white-cloaked  arms  toward  the  darkening  sky. 

"Oh,"  she  shrieked,  "save  me,  Ory!  Save 
me!  I'm  drowning — dear!" 

There  was  no  board,  no  rope,  no  possible 
branch  tender  enough  for  a  mere  lad  to  wrench 
loose.  I  could  not  swim.  There  was  but  one 
course.  With  an  agonized  cry  that  tried  so 
vainly  to  bear  courage,  I  called  out  to  her: 
"Wait  just  an  instant.  Beat  the  water  with 
your  hands  and  feet,  if  you  can't  catch  the  ice! 
Oh,  Evy,  please,  please  wait." 

I  turned  and  sped  toward  the  house  with  feet 
that  scarcely  touched  the  ground.  I  seemed  to 
reach  it  almost  instantly,  and,  grasping  the 
knocker,  I  hammered  insanely  against  its  sting- 
ing copper  striking-plate. 


THE  SIXGLE-CODE  GIRL       61 

It  was  not  long  before  the  father  and  the 
butler  were  on  hand  and  understood  my  panting 
explanation.  But  the  ice  was  too  thin  to  bear 
the  slightest  weight,  and  a  rope  and  boat  had 
to  be  unhoused!  There  was  no  difficulty  in 
finding  the  one  dark  spot,  from  which  gleeful 
little  cracks  ran  out  in  irresponsive  abandon. 
In  the  first  dive,  too,  the  strong  house-boy 
found  and  brought  up  gently  the  tiny  wilted 
flower;  but  even  the  distracted  father,  never 
breathing  a  word,  never  raising  his  eyes  from 
the  water,  knew  the  instant  she  was  placed  in 
his  arms  that  it  was  over.  There  had  been  no 
struggle.  It  was  not  the  grasp  of  the  freezing 
lake  water,  but  the  purple  bruise  on  the  very 
white  forehead,  made  by  contact  with  the  ice, 
that  had  mercifully  put  an  end.  It  was  the 
glimpse  of  that  heavy  dark  spot,  so  horrible  in 
its  contrast  with  the  white  and  gold  surround- 
ings of  Evelina's  cheeks  and  hair,  that  filled 
my  soul  with  terror,  and  made  me  turn  and  rush 
frantically  away. 


62       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

Ed,  one  hears  often  of  the  deep  anguish  of 
maturer  years — of  the  levity  and  non-realiza- 
tion of  childish  days.  But  again  I  say,  what 
you  know  for  yourself,  there  is  nothing  like  the 
bitter  pain  of  a  heart-sick  child.  He  knows 
little  reasoning,  little  acceptance.  A  black 
shadow,  intangible,  seems  to  envelop  him  in  its 
choking  grasp.  All  that  night  I  battled,  with 
poor  Marie  to  be  permitted  to  go  back  to  the 
big  white  house  among  the  trees ;  but  when,  in 
very  desperation,  she  gave  her  consent,  and 
started  to  lead  me  out  into  the  night,  I  tore  my- 
self away  from  her  hold,  and,  rushing  to  my 
room,  buried  my  face  deep  in  my  pillows.  All 
that  night  I  called  myself  a  murderer  for  de- 
laying an  instant,  and  time  and  again  sprang 
from  my  bed  to  part  the  curtains  and  strain  my 
sight  through  the  distance  toward  the  flicker 
of  light  in  an  upper  window.  There,  I  knew, 
gifted  physicians  were  working  over  a  little 
form,  against  all  hope,  that  they  might  at  least 
give  the  slight  comfort  to  the  frantic  parents  of 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       63 

everything  known  to  science  having  been  done. 
In  the  early  morning  the  light  went  out,  and  the 
big  trees  bent  their  heavily  iced  branches  in 
solemn  protection  over  the  house  of  grief. 

It  was  nine  o'clock  before  I  could  make  my- 
self go.  Then,  refusing  poor  tired  Marie's 
company,  I  buttoned  on  my  heavy  coat,  seized 
fur  cap  and  gloves  from  the  hall-table  to  slip  on 
as  I  went;  and,  once  outside,  beyond  the  reach 
of  my  delicate  mother's  hearing,  I  ran,  sobbing 
and  panting  every  inch  of  the  way,  to  my  little 
friend's  home.  Arriving,  I  never  thought  of 
knocking,  but  throwing  my  whole  weight 
against  the  huge  door  pushed  my  way  into  the 
big  hall,  and  straight  into  the  arms  of  Evelina's 
weeping  nurse. 

When  we  had  cried  and  sobbed  ourselves  al- 
most into  a  fever  I  grew  gradually  oddly  calm. 
I  lifted  my  head  to  look  about  me,  and  noticed 
that  the  broad,  luxuriantly  furnished  hall  and 
pleasant  living-room  adjoining  were  already 
full  of  groups  of  strangers,  talking  in  low  tones 


64       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

— serious  men  and  beautiful,  soberly  dressed, 
weeping  women — carrying  bunches  of  white 
and  very  pale  pink  flowers,  nestling  in  maiden- 
hair ferns,  and  arranging  them  tastefully  here 
and  there.  I  noticed  also,  with  much  surprise, 
that  my  father  was  a  conspicuous  figure  in  the 
last  group  of  men  at  the  end  of  the  hall.  I  had 
seen  him  so  seldom  out  of  his  library  that  it 
was  almost  incredible  to  me  that  he  could  join 
a  real  grief  or  need  foreign  to  his  own  life — 
and  especially  over  the  loss  of  a  little  girl.  I 
observed,  however,  for  the  first  time,  and  with 
a  pride  quite  irrelevant  with  the  occasion,  how 
big  and  strong  and  stately  he  stood  among  the 
others;  how  men  stopped  speaking  to  listen 
deferentially  when  he  uttered  a  sentence — and, 
then,  with  a  little  irrelevant  heart-throb,  I 
noted  how  strangely  white  for  his  years  his 
thick  hair  waved  about  his  temples.  It  was  to 
my  father,  too,  I  noticed,  that  even  poor  Sena- 
tor Buckingham  turned  constantly  for  a  word 
of  possible  support.  Once  I  thought  my  par- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       65 

ent's  glance  rested,  surprised,  upon  me,  ques- 
tioning the  meaning  of  my  presence  and  appar- 
ent grief;  and  alarmed  at  the  thought  that  I 
might  be  sent  quickly  home,  I  slipped  away 
from  the  nurse  and  into  the  big  parlor,  where 
the  beautiful  weeping  ladies  moved  softly  to 
and  fro. 

The  culmination  of  the  overwhelming  fra- 
grance of  the  flowers,  the  pretty  shadowy  lights 
and  the  sweetness  and  gentleness  of  every  face 
about  me  made  me  lose  complete  control  again. 
I  dropped  on  a  deep-armed  couch,  and  writhed 
in  a  heavy  rush  of  sobs  and  delirious  words: 
I  was  a  murderer,  I  declared.  If  I  had  only 
jumped  the  fence  the  instant  I  saw  Evelina 
come  out  of  the  front  door,  I  could  have  saved 
her!  I  tried  to  stop  her,  I  explained,  but  she 
wouldn't  mind;  then  I  waited  because  she  had 
called  me  a  coward.  That  was  when  she  was 
lost!  And  now  I  could  never,  never  live 
without  her,  knowing  I  had  killed  her  my- 
self! 


66       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

At  those  wild,  strangely  matured  cries,  there 
was  an  instant  of  hush ;  then  the  ladies  dropped 
their  flowers  and  gathered  quickly  about  me, 
one  of  the  youngest  taking  me  into  the  folds  of 
her  soft-bosomed  dress,  kissing  me  and  telling 
me  that  I  was  no  murderer,  but  the  bravest, 
dearest  little  man  in  all  the  world  to  run  for 
help  as  I  did.  Moved  by  these  comforting  de- 
nials I  gradually  ceased  my  hysterical  actions ; 
and  with  that  new  feeling  of  dignity  grown 
within  me  of  late,  I  slipped  from  the  young 
lady's  lap  to  a  chair  near  by.  Then  a  big  grief- 
shaken  man  entered  the  room,  and  all  voices 
hushed. 

He  came  directly  toward  me,  and  lifting  a 
face  that  seemed  almost  hallowed,  looked 
straight  into  mine  with  eyes  so  sad  that  I  see 
them  yet  in  storm-scenes,  just  when  the  ele- 
ments are  moaning  themselves  back  into  forced 
quiet,  beneath  still-leaden  skies.  "You  are  my 
little  girl's  best  friend,"  he  said  simply.  "We 
shall  not  forget  how  you  rushed  to  tell  us.  Will 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       67 

you  come  with  me  now  a  moment  to  see  her 
mother — and  little  Evelina!'* 

I  arose  and  took  his  offered  hand  without  a 
word.  My  fingers  trembled  in  his  lifeless 
grasp.  My  knees  seemed  confused  in  their 
service,  but  I  felt  that  I  must  see  Evelina,  must 
call  her  back  to  play  with  me.  It  couldn't  be 
true  that  she  was  gone  forever — this  little  girl 
surrounded  with  love  and  servants  and  luxury 
and  protection!  Surely  she  would  forgive  me 
and  answer  my  cry  this  time.  She  had  already 
forgiven  me ;  for  had  not  the  last  word  she  had 
called  to  me  on  earth  been  a  tender  appellation 
— dear.  I  felt  I  must  hear  it  again  from  her, 
and  whisper  back  a  stronger  one  in  turn.  I 
must !  I  seized  a  firmer  hold  on  the  cold  hand. 
4 'Hurry,  hurry!"  I  said.  "I  must  talk  with 
her  once  more !"  I  passed  my  father  just  then, 
and  even  in  my  confusion,  I  noticed  that  he 
turned  and  looked  ajt  me  directly,  with  eyes  not 
annoyed  or  reproachful,  but  this  time  unmis- 
takably full  of  surprise  and  a  deep  grief. 


68       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

As  we  went  up  the  broad  stairs  and  across  a 
dully  gleaming  stretch  of  hall,  the  silent  figure 
at  my  side  stopped  at  a  certain  door  and  placed 
his  hands  on  my  shoulders  as  though  he  were 
dealing  with  matured  years.  "We  must  be 
very  brave  for  her  sake — little  Evelina's 
mother,  Ory.  You  must  tell  her  you'll  come 
often,  for  she  loves  you  already.  Our  little  girl 
always  called  you  her  very  best  friend.  I — " 

He  stopped,  leaning  his  head  for  a  time 
against  his  arm ;  then  he  looked  up  with  a  fresh 
effort.  "Come,"  he  said.  "We  will  do  our 
best!" 

There  was  nothing  to  suggest  bitter  woe  as 
the  door  of  a  beautiful  room  opened  to  the 
Senator's  knock.  A  fire  burned  on  the  hearth 
between  brilliantly  polished  andirons ;  a  canary 
poured  forth  a  song  of  some  distant  land,  too 
wondrous  for  human  conception.  Koses  in 
opal  vases  shed  their  delicate  fragrance  about 
us ;  and,  in  the  midst  of  the  sweetness,  a  woman 
sat  near  a  window  with  a  look  upon  her  face 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       69 

such  as  I  had  once  seen  in  a  great  masterpiece 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  when  Marie  had  taken  me 
to  morning  prayers.  It  was  a  blending  of  utter 
anguish  with  complete  self-surrender. 

As  I  came  slowly  toward  her,  Evelina's 
mother  held  out  her  arms  with  a  tender  smile, 
but  her  eyes  burned  hungry  with  a  feverish 
light.  "Ory,"  she  said  with  the  simplicity  of 
deepest  feeling,  "Ory,  our  little  girl  liked  you 
best  of  all  her  playmates.  You — you  must 
come  to  see  us  often  now."  Her  voice  broke 
and  she  bowed  her  head  on  the  window-sill. 
Evelina's  father  left  me  quickly  to  bend  over 
her  with  every  possible  word  of  comfort  and 
soothing  caresses.  When  he  remembered  me 
finally,  he  drew  his  wife  up  tenderly  and  mo- 
tioned me  to  come.  "Let  us  see  the  little 
babe,"  he  urged.  "She  will  be  glad,  I  think, 
that  we  are  near." 

I  drew  back  in  foolish  alarm.  This  was  the 
first  time  I  had  ever  been  asked  to  look  upon 
death.  The  most  I  knew  of  it  was  when,  while 


70       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

sitting  upon  the  high  stone  pillars  of  our  front 
gate,  with  faithful  Marie  at  my  side,  I  had 
watched  the  long  funeral  processions  move 
slowly  down  our  stately  avenue. 

Mr.  Buckingham  understood  my  distress  at 
once.  He  moved  to  my  side  and  lifted  my  face 
an  instant  in  his  big  hands.  *  *  She  is  just  sleep- 
ing a  little  sooner  than  the  rest  of  us,  Ory,"  he 
said.  "She  is  very  happy — and  beautiful. 
You  will  be  glad  that  you  have  seen  her;  and 
to  feel  with  us  that  God  called  her  because  He 
needs  her." 

It  was  not  until  years  afterwards  that  I  fully 
understood  the  bigness  of  soul  that  it  took  to 
speak  thus  resignedly  and  with  a  heart  of  un- 
broken faith  in  a  moment  of  such  tremendous 
loss. 

After  these  few  words,  however,  my  heart 
became  at  once  without  trouble.  If  I  had  any 
defined  wish  at  all  it  was  that  I,  too,  could  try 
this  majestic  sleep  at  once — that  all  whom  I 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       71 

loved  best  could.  Life  seemed  indeed  only  a 
wayside  path  to  a  glorious  land  beyond. 

There  were  pink-shaded  candles  in  Evelina's 
room.  Their  soft  light  caressed  in  flickering 
shadows  the  gold  and  pink  and  white  of  her 
pretty  apartment.  On  her  own  dainty  bed  Eve- 
lina lay  sleeping,  covered  with  a  warm  pink  silk 
comforter.  One  arm,  visible  its  full  length 
through  a  sleeve  of  thinnest  white,  gathered 
with  pink  ribbon  bows  at  her  rounded  elbow, 
was  thrown  easily  above  her  head.  The  other 
lay  on  her  chest.  Her  yellow  curls  floated  out 
in  ripple  after  ripple  over  her  pillow  in  a  ver- 
itable cloud  of  glory.  Upon  her  cheeks  was  the 
rose  pink  of  a  natural  sleep.  I  felt  indeed  that 
my  little  girl  friend  was  not  dead,  but  enjoying 
a  lovely  dream. 

We  stood  for  a  time  at  her  side  in  deepest 
peace;  then  with  the  sudden  fury  with  which 
thoughts  always  laid  hold  of  my  impetuous  na- 
ture, I  remembered  again  my  delay  of  a  few  in- 


72       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

slants  the  evening  before.  At  once  I  became 
an  unreasoning  spirit,  tossing  myself  on  the  bed 
at  Evelina's  side,  calling  myself  her  murderer, 
begging  her  to  forgive  me  for  my  wicked, 
wicked  spirit. 

Again  Evelina's  parents  showed  themselves 
persons  of  big  souls.  Mr.  Buckingham  would 
hear  nothing  of  it.  He  lifted  me  kindly  and 
firmly  and  assured  me  earnestly  that  it  would 
have  happened  no  matter  if  there  had  been  a 
warning  several  moments  earlier.  It  had  hap- 
pened when  she  first  struck  the  ice  going  down. 
He  reasoned,  for  my  sake,  in  the  calm  tones  of 
a  person  who  had  dropped  in  merely  to  express 
a  word  of  sympathy,  though  his  eyes,  even  to 
my  boy-mind,  showed  clearly  a  life-broken 
heart.  "That  is  the  hardest  part  of  these 
good-byes,  Ory,"  he  spoke  to  me,  again,  as 
though  I  were  a  grown-up  man  and  could  fully 
comprehend.  "We  always  wish  we  had  done 
much  more  for  our  departed  loved  ones.  We 
forget,  for  a  while,  the  many,  many  loving  acts 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       73 

we  have  shown  them,  and  blame  ourselves  far 
too  much.  Thank  God  we  have  tried  to  make 
little  Evelina's  life  a  happy  time — and  a  good 
one.  And  you  have  been  a  splendid  friend. 
So  do  not  grieve  about  this  or  that — what  she 
never  meant,  and  what  you  can  not  help." 

While  he  talked  his  hand  rested,  according  to 
a  custom  of  his,  on  my  shoulder.  Mrs.  Buck- 
ingham watched  us  a  moment  with  dry  eyes, 
then  unclasped  the  chain  about  Evelina's 
throat,  and  slipped  the  locket  into  my  hand. 
"You  gave  it  to  her,  Ory,"  she  whispered. 
' '  She  always  loved  it.  Keep  the  locket.  I  will 
put  your  chain  back  on  her.  Always  try  to  be 
good,  Ory;  worthy  to  keep  our  little  Evelina's 
locket  in  your  care. ' ' 

"I  will,"  I  pledged  so  solemnly  and  in  such 
an  odd  voice  that  I  wondered  if  it  were  really 
myself,  or  if  I  had  grown  suddenly  into  a  man. 
"I  will  never,  never  love  any  one  else  in  all  my 
life;  and  I  will  always  be  good,  so  that  the 
locket  can  be  mine ! ' ' 


74      THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

Oh,  Ed,  I  would  to  God  that  I  had  kept  this 
vow,  as  I  surely  meant  to  keep  it  then !  I  am 
positive  I  would  have  observed  the  latter  part 
of  my  promise,  at  least,  had  I  known  how  to 
enter  into  confidences  with  my  parents;  or  if 
my  father  had  given  me  the  frank  natural  ex- 
planation concerning  the  inestimable  value  of 
ever-careful  living,  which  it  was  my  right  to 
learn  from  him,  and  not,  as  I  have  said  before, 
from  an  indifferent  misleading  world.  As  it 
was,  there  came  the  time  when  honesty  would 
not  permit  me  to  retain  the  little  locket.  I  had 
to  send  it  back. ORISON. 


LETTER  X 

Second  Report  from  Frank  Orison  Hol- 
land to  Aliston.  Concerning  the  Little 
Blue-Homer  Girl.  In  Which  He  Attempts 
to  Assume  Heavy  Responsibilities  for  His 
Age.  November  First;  at  Ellison  Grove. 

DEAR  ED: 

The  time  covered  from  the  loss  of  Evelina 
to  my  entrance  into  college,  at  the  age  of 
eighteen,  marks,  with  one  exception,  the  most 
wholesome  period  of  my  life.  Still  believing 
much  in  Marie's  training  that  woman's  one  ob- 
ject was  to  make  the  male  heart  miserable,  I 
spurned  their  company  as  a  galloping  colt 
would  pass,  unheeded,  the  gambols  of  a  little 
kitten.  Athletics  and  school-work  became  my 
one  interest;  and,  under  the  wholesome  effect 
of  my  outdoor  life,  the  remorse  that  had 
gnawed  at  my  very  soul  at  being  too  late  to 

75 


76       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

save  Evelina  became  mercifully  softened  into 
only  an  occasional  regret.  The  memory  of  the 
sweetness  and  justice  of  that  brief  little  life, 
for  Evelina  was  always  fair  unless  she  truly 
believed  one  in  the  wrong,  supplied  much  of  the 
sentiment  that  the  boy  heart  demands  in  one 
shape  or  another  at  this  particular  age. 

There  was  also  a  special  privilege  granted 
me  that  helped  in  untold  measure  during  that 
period  of  unutterable  restlessness  which  a  nor- 
mal, quickly  growing  boy  is  bound  to  endure — 
the  Buckingham  home  was  thrown  open  to  me 
with  a  freedom  much  greater  than  my  own.  I 
was  made  to  feel  that  I,  and  as  many  class- 
mates as  I  chose  to  bring,  were  most  welcome 
there  day  or  night  I  was  selfish  with  this 
privilege  as  a  rule.  I  preferred  to  go  alone; 
when,  with  the  gracious  presence  of  Mrs.  Buck- 
ingham at  her  sewing  near  us,  the  Senator  and 
I  would  play  at  chess,  or  he  would  live  over  his 
boyhood  enthusiasm  with  me  in  animated  dis- 
cussions concerning  athletics,  or  civic  reforms. 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL      77 

Often  with  a  chart  laid  out  before  us  on  the 
wide  center-table  we  approved  some  big  local 
move;  or  deplored  this  or  that  foreign  condi- 
tion. It  was  here,  I  am  positive,  that  I  received 
my  first  inspirations  to  follow  the  legal  profes- 
sion. It  was  here  also  I  dared  my  first  cigar,  at 
sixteen,  under  Mrs.  Buckingham's  gentle  pro- 
test; and  the  Senator's  laughing  advice:  "Go 
it  easy,  Ory !  One  after  meals,  and  one  for  so- 
ciability just  now  and  then.  That's  a  rule  I 
keep  up,  even  now.  One  needs  all  the  calmly 
balanced  nerves  he  can  get  in  this  hustling 
world;  and  it's  not  the  smallest  job  to  find  or 
keep  them!" 

All  that  time  I  was  growing  with  such  rapid 
strokes  that  it  is  a  wonder  I  had  any  ambitions 
left;  but  I  had  inherited  my  father's  strong 
physique,  and  possessed  enough  of  self-con- 
trol so  that  I  chafed  less  than  the  average  boy 
under  the  diet-restrictions  of  athletic  life.  In 
consequence  I  was  first  in  the  field-games;  and 
on  account  of  my  scorn  of  the  late  hours  and 


78       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

average  customs  of  social  life,  I  kept  a  clear 
brain  and  became  leader  in  my  class-work. 
During  that  time  I  received  many  fawning, 
hero-worship  pages  from  young  maidens  just 
out  of  pinafores,  whose  mothers  did  not  even 
realize  they  knew  how  to  write  a  note !  But  as 
I  made  little  or  no  response,  I  was  slowly  given 
up  by  the  fairer  sex  as  a  conceited,  rude,  over- 
grown bore.  In  spite  of  their  caustic  verdict, 
however,  ambition  and  energy  leaped  through 
my  physical  life  with  every  breath,  pushing  out 
and  broadening  my  chest,  demanding  room — 
room!  At  eighteen,  I  graduated  with  first 
rank,  and  with  many  so-called  " honors"  won 
in  the  athletic  field. 

Ed,  I  would  not  take  you  so  intimately  into 
questions  of  my  life,  aside  from  those  pertain- 
ing directly  to  woman,  only  you  must  know,  to 
judge  correctly,  just  what  kind  of  background 
I  had  for  meeting  what  came  to  me  in  the 
quickly  following  years.  Honesty  also  com- 
pels me  to  show  the  other  side — what  little  ex- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       79 

cuse  I  really  had  for  falling  at  all,  considering 
my  finely  grounded  heredity.  These  parts  I 
shall  make  as  brief  as  possible. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  slightest  detail  of 
that  graduation-day.  I  felt  no  idle  pride,  but 
just  a  firm  determination  to  go  on  and  on  to 
something  worth  while.  As  I  looked  from  the 
outdoor  platform  over  the  banks  of  fern  and 
palms  and  June-roses  toward  the  interested  au- 
dience, I  thought  of  life,  for  a  space,  as  a  splen- 
did privilege  indeed,  with  no  sadness  or  shadow 
save  those  of  tender  memories.  I  remember 
starting  foolishly  as  I  noticed  that  my  father 
was  one  of  the  distinguished  guests  chosen  for 
the  platform-embellishment.  It  seemed  odd 
that,  in  his  retired  life,  any  one  could  discover 
how  much  they  needed  him,  or  induce  him  to 
come  from  the  exclusiveness  of  his  book-walled 
study.  I  was  puzzled  and  concerned  for  the 
moment,  by  the  glow  on  his  usually  pallid 
cheeks  and  the  baffling  brilliance  of  his  eyes. 
Then  I  realized  vaguely  that  it  was  pride  of  me ; 


80       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

and  I  wondered  bitterly  why  he  had  never 
spoken  a  word  of  this  during  my  years  of  hon- 
est effort. 

While  I  wrestled  with  the  question,  trying 
not  to  seem  unreasonably  critical,  my  glance 
roved  over  the  audience  and  rested  upon  Sena- 
tor and  Mrs.  Buckingham.  Close  by  them, 
with  dark  eyes  strained  to  the  uttermost,  so  as 
not  to  lose  one  movement  of  mine,  sat  my  faith- 
ful Marie,  still  retained  in  our  family,  and, 
through  the  justice  of  my  father,  now  the  owner 
of  a  little  cottage  at  the  foot  of  our  rose-garden. 
Neither  she  nor  I  realized  the  part  that  she  had 
played  in  my  conception  of  womankind,  nor  the 
great  rebound  that  would  occur  when  I  tried 
this  matter  out  fully  for  myself.  But  again 
there  came  to  me  a  breath  of  bitterness — a 
struggle  against  acceptance.  Two  forms  were 
not  there.  Why  couldn't  my  beautiful  mother, 
to  whom  I  owed  my  very  life,  be  present  to  wit- 
ness my  first  real  conquest?  And  why  not,  too, 
the  little  girl  whose  cloud  of  yellow  curls,  were 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       81 

she  living,  would  now  be  gathered  demurely 
into  the  clasp  of  a  black  velvet  bow ;  and  whose 
brilliant  smile  would  help  me  throw  the  expres- 
sion of  my  very  soul  into  what  I  had  to  say? 
At  that  very  instant  I  made  a  half-ashamed,  re- 
bellious, inevitable  resolve :  I  would  find  out  for 
myself  whether  that  was  really  the  meaning  of 
life — doing  without  what  one  wanted  most — 
smiling  on  and  on  no  matter  what,  no  matter 
what.  Surely  there  was  a  happier  way,  a  saner 
way  than  this!  The  great  philosophers  had 
tried  for  it;  but  I  would  make  it  my  one  big 
aim  in  life  to  find  it! 

As  soon  as  the  exercises  were  over,  I  broke 
loose  from  the  several  heartfelt  congratula- 
tions, and  the  many  gushings  and  gurglings 
and  too-lingering  handclasps  of  idle-brained 
women,  and  followed  my  real  longing  to  be  at 
my  mother's  side.  There,  I  entered  the  dark- 
ened room  as  gently  as  my  huge  growth  would 
permit;  and,  approaching  her  couch,  I  groped 
my  hand  slowly  across  the  silken  cushions  that 


82       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

lay  in  pyramids  about  her  until  I  touched  her 
cool  soft  cheek.  Then  I  bent  and  kissed  her  on 
her  lips.  "Motherkin,  sweet  little  motherkin," 
I  whispered,  "you  need  not  be  ashamed  of  your 
boy.  I  have  won.  There  was  not  one  thing  in 
my  course  in  which  I  did  not  hold  first  place 
to-day. " 

My  mother  did  not  speak.  She  lifted  an  arm 
that  startled  me  with  its  ethereal  beauty  and 
pressed  my  face  for  a  long  time  against  her 
white  cheek.  Later  she  bade  me  kneel  beside 
her,  so  she  could  see  my  eyes  better,  and  tell 
her  just  how  the  whole  day  went.  When  I 
spoke  to  her  of  my  intention  to  enter  the  legal 
profession  her  face  mirrored  the  softer  radi- 
ance of  the  evening  sky  on  water.  "Yes,"  she 
answered  with  an  odd  eagerness, ' '  yes,  the  pres- 
ent needs  you!  Keep  up  with  that.  It  is  all 
that  any  man  can  safely  do. ' '  As  she  spoke  in 
hurried  gasps,  but  with  a  beautiful  smile  of 
acceptance  on  her  lips,  I  knew  with  a  fearful 
agony  of  heart  that  her  tiny  feet  were  pain- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       83 

lessly  but  surely  pressing  a  portal  that  mine 
might  never  reach.  "Dear  boy,"  she  finished 
at  last,  "dear  laddie,  I  thank  God  for  the  day 
you  were  born !  The  world  will,  too.  You  will 
always  be  a  man  to  be  proud  of. ' ' 

Then  the  nurse,  not  daring  to  command  my 
age,  beckoned  softly  and  with  another  kiss  we 
parted. 

That  evening  as  I  sat  alone  smoking  and 
reading  in  my  den,  our  butler  appeared  at  the 
door.  "Your  father  would  speak  with  you,  sir, 
in  his  study, ' '  he  announced. 

As  I  arose  and  beat  out  the  ashes  from  my 
favorite  pipe,  I  was  formulating  an  answer; 
for  I  knew  what  the  interview  concerned,  and 
I  took  all  the  time  decently  possible  to  prepare. 
I  had  never  recovered  from  my  childhood  dread 
of  the  dark,  polished  doors  that  let  one  through 
to  the  rows  of  massive,  brain-consuming  books, 
holding  within  their  unrelenting  demands  my 
stately  parent,  prematurely  gray,  silent,  deep- 
thinking,  in  his  big,  heavily  cushioned  chair. 


84       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

I  knew  I  must  meet  the  call,  just  when  it  came, 
however;  for  my  father  was  decisive,  keen, 
eager  always  to  discuss  one  point  before  a  mul- 
titude of  others  arrived.  He  was  sending  for 
me  now,  after  granting  the  boon  of  a  few  hours 
only,  to  discuss  my  life-work! 

When  I  entered  his  study,  finally,  I  bowed 
with  the  feeling  of  reverence  which  even  an 
indiscriminating  mind  always  feels  in  the 
presence  of  a  truly  great  man.  Again  I  noted 
with  quick  pride  how  very  distinguished  was 
my  father's  appearance — a  form  several  inches 
above  the  average;  broad,  though  lately, 
slightly  drooping  shoulders,  fine,  evenly  chis- 
eled features;  thick  silvery-gray  hair,  turning 
to  snow  white  about  the  face,  and  forming  a  no- 
ticeably handsome  setting  for  the  intensely 
dark,  expressive  eyes. 

Before  I  could  speak,  he  crossed  over  from 
the  mantel,  against  which  he  had  been  leaning 
lightly  in  waiting,  and  held  out  a  hand.  "You 
have  distinguished  yourself  to-day,  my  son," 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL      85 

he  said  with  a  touch  of  what  might  have  been 
interpreted  as  warmness.  "I  congratulate 
you — and  ourselves." 

I  took  the  extended  hand  and  wished  most 
sincerely  that  I  could  return  something  more 
cordial  than  conventional  thanks  for  his  inter- 
est; but  there  seemed  to  be  a  lid  tied  down  on 
every  true  sentiment  but  respect,  whenever  I 
came  into  the  presence  of  this  man.  It  had  been 
buckled  by  force  in  my  childhood  through  Ma- 
rie's well-grounded  warnings  to  keep  away 
from  the  big  study-door,  through  which  great 
men  constantly  came  and  went.  And  this  re- 
straint upon  my  comradeship  with  my  parent 
had  grown  so  strong  through  the  years,  that, 
now,  in  my  full  vigor  and  command,  I  was  ut- 
terly unable  to  break  it.  With  my  father  also 
— God  pity  him — was  the  evident  realization 
of  the  stone  wall.  He  had  known  little  of  my 
earlier  days  and  possibilities  in  his  engrossed 
life,  save  that  I  attended  educational  institu- 
tions regularly,  and  that  ample  money  was  al- 


86      THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

ways  provided  for  my  raising.  Now  he  clearly 
realized  with  me  that  it  was  too  late  to  begin 
with  the  A — B — C  of  comradeship. 

I  felt  a  real  pity  for  him  that  evening — and 
for  myself,  standing  his  perfect  likeness  phys- 
ically, but  nowise  temperamentally — as  a  par- 
ent, able  to  decipher  the  most  illegible  hiero- 
glyphics masterfully,  but  straining  for  just  the 
right  words  of  interest  to  use  with  his  own  son. 

"You  would  better  travel  this  summer  for  a 
rest, ' '  he  told  me.  * '  I  have  directed  my  banker 
to  put  $3,000  to  your  credit  for  the  purpose.  I 

desire  you  to  enter  D College  in  the  fall. 

My  reason  for  preferring  this  place  is  that  the 
college  owns  one  professor — Linkerstein — who 
understands  and  imparts  the  real  meaning  of 
education.  He  does  not  regard  a  college  course 
as  a  means  for  gaming  prestige ;  or  a  possibility 
for  attaining  cunning  in  finance,  so  that  the 
graduate's  wife  may  possibly  own  a  bonnet  or 
carriage  above  the  ordinary  man's.  He  values 
education  for  the  beauty  and  the  life-worth  that 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       87 

can  be  gotten  out  of  the  truths  gleaned  in  the 
learning.  I  think  you  follow  me.  It  is  my 
hope  that  you  still  continue  in  honor — and  my 
belief  that  in  mingling  with  men  and  women  in 
the  future  you  will  be  utterly  unable  to  play  a 
part  in  anything  coarse  or  mean.  My  one  per- 
sonal desire  is  that  you  will  be  able  to  take  up 
my  work  where  I  must  drop  it.  It  is  a  deep 
study,  requiring  generations  of  perfection;  but 
sometimes  I  think  I  am  not  just  well,  and  that 
my  days  are  already  numbered.  So  be  it,  if 
God  wills.  It  is  easier  when  I  realize  that  you 
will  go  on!" 

A  feeling  of  utmost  misery  seized  me  that  I 
could  not  give  my  father  an  affirmative  answer, 
but  even  the  sight  of  the  huge,  heavy-lidded 
books  filled  me  with  a  frenzy  of  suffocation ;  and 
honesty  was  the  one  big  thing  I  had  drawn  from 
my  father  at  my  birth. 

"I  would  give  anything  possible  to  please 
you,"  I  replied,  "but  that  is  out  of  my  power. 
I  must  deal  with  questions  of  the  present. 


88       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

They  are  howling  for  solution.  I  can  not  use 
so  short  a  space  as  life  in  delving  in  the  past. ' ' 

My  father  turned  frightfully  pallid.  He 
took  a  step  backward,  holding  up  an  arm  as 
though  averting  some  blow.  "You  mean  you 
will  not?" 

"I  mean  I  can  not — conscientiously,  nor  by 
fitness  of  temperament." 

There  was  no  reproof.  I  fancied  the  dark 
eyes  grew  brighter.  The  lips  set  into  lines  of 
difficult  suppression.  "Then  I  must  live  until 
I  get  the  work  to  a  certain  point  of  solution," 
he  laughed  grimly  after  a  moment  of  silence. 
"If  my  only  son  won't  help,  I  must  do  it — 
alone,  alone!" 

The  trip  to  Europe  was  postponed.  Perhaps 
because  it  seemed  such  an  easy  attainment,  that 
it  awakened  in  me  no  great  degree  of  enthusi- 
asm. But  more,  I  think,  on  account  of  the  evi- 
dent failing  of  my  beautiful  mother,  and  the 
utter  pathos  of  my  father's  keen  disappoint- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       89 

ment  in  my  failure  to  continue  directly  in  his 
chosen  work.  I  longed  to  fit  some  way  into  his 
big  scheme,  but  each  passing  day  only  seemed 
to  emphasize  our  utter  incompatibility  of  tem- 
perament. With  my  mother  it  was  different. 
She  could  not  stand  any  extended  course  of  ac- 
tion, no  matter  how  pleasant ;  but  many  times  I 
was  permitted  to  creep  into  her  room  for  a 
time,  to  lay  before  her  the  rare  woods  flowers 
that  I  had  gleaned  in  my  frequent  solitary 
horseback-rides,  or  to  read  to  her  in  lowest 
tones  the  poems  she  best  loved.  In  the  hours 
between  I  became  well  acquainted  with  our 
splendidly  chosen  library;  or  when  in  need  of 
extra  oxygen-supply,  I  visited  the  athletic  field 
that  a  summer  college  course  made  interesting. 
During  this  time  I  firmly  eschewed  women  to 
an  egotistical  degree.  But  where  is  the  fool 
that  insists  that  he  has  discovered  the  means  of 
immunity  from  the  approaches  of  the  other  sex ! 
No  such  possibility  exists  at  any  age  in  man, 
and  the  promulgator  of  such  falsehoods  should 


90       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

be  instantly  hanged,  as  presenting  too  optimistic 
a  view,  at  times,  for  worldly  comprehension. 

It  was  the  afternoon  of  a  day  in  middle  Sep- 
tember. In  a  week  I  was  to  enter  the  college 
that  was  chosen  by  my  father.  I  was  taking 
a  long  ride  over  our  splendid  hillsides,  in  prep- 
aration for  the  arduous  labors  later.  By  a 
certain  wild  brook  I  had  come  across  a  delicate 
lavender  flower,  unknown  entirely  to  myself. 
My  whole  attention  was  devoted  to  its  preser- 
vation for  my  little  mother  when,  suddenly,  I 
became  aware  of  another  human  presence  close 
by  my  side.  It  was  that  of  a  woman,  not  won- 
drously  beautiful  or  full  of  mystery,  but  whole- 
some, well-formed,  and  good  to  look  upon. 
She  rode  a  bay  horse,  a  little  larger,  and  even 
more  spirited  than  my  own. 

"It  is  certainly  going  to  storm  soon,"  'she 
addressed  me  as  though  we  were  old-time  ac- 
quaintances. "Do  you  think  we  shall  reach  the 
valley  before  it  breaks'?" 

For  the  first  time  I  became  cognizant  of  at- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       91 

mospherical  surroundings.  Heavy  black  clouds 
were  hurling  themselves  from  the  intensely 
dark  horizon  to  blue  midway  in  defiant  haste. 
Soon  there  would  be  no  vestige  of  sun  left.  "I 
am  afraid  not;  it  is  a  good  three  miles, "  I  an- 
swered, accepting  the  acquaintance  in  as  mat- 
ter-of-fact a  way  as  it  was  given. 

"Let  us  try,  at  least,"  the  girl  said  coolly.  I 
noticed  she  rode  her  saddle  finely,  and  realized 
that  she  could  easily  keep  pace  with  my  fastest 
efforts.  "There  is  a  little  cottage,  right  at  the 
edge  of  that  distant  woods,  where  one  of 
father's  help  used  to  live.  It  is  vacant  now. 
But  perhaps  we  can  make  it,  and  beat  in  the 
door.  It  will  give  us  a  temporary  refuge." 

The  thought  was  grateful  enough  to  both  of 
us.  Neither  of  us  feared  the  rage  of  elements, 
but  an  escape  from  drenching  clothes,  upon  an 
unusually  raw-winded  day  was  comforting. 
We  bent  forward  sturdily  in  our  saddles  and 
sent  our  horses  into  quickest  motion.  Only 
once  did  the  girl  speak: 


92       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

"You  are  Orison  Holland.  I  have  heard 
much  about — your  father  and  beautiful 
mother. ' ' 

I  nodded.  "And  you  are  Miss  Vickery.  I 
have  also  heard  that  your  father's  tenantry  ex- 
tends from  the  mountain's  edge  to  the  town 
proper. ' ' 

"Yes.  Father  saw  the  drift  of  values  west- 
ward, in  time,  and,  lately,  has  bought  exten- 
sively in  that  direction.  That  accounts  for  the 
vacating  of  several  cottages  at  the  mountain's 
edge.  Oh — it  is  here!  Hurry,  hurry!" 

The  latter  exclamation  was  caused  by  a  sharp 
flash  of  lightning,  followed  by  several  bom- 
bastic splotches  of  rain,  and  that  abject  dipping 
of  foliage  earthward  that  acknowledges  the 
presence  of  a  master  storm-power. 

We  lost  no  time  for  introductory  phrases 
now.  Our  one  object  was  to  reach  the  edge  of 
the  woods,  where  the  dull  rise  of  a  little  brown 
roof  offered  an  only  hope  of  succor.  The 
horses,  too,  understood,  and  picked  their  way 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       93 

across  stones  and  through  low  foliage  with  most 
skillful  attention. 

"Oh,  we  have  made  it — just  in  time!'*  the 
girl  exclaimed  triumphantly  a  few  moments 
later.  We  were  standing  on  the  worn  little 
porch,  our  horses  first  safely  stalled  in  the  barn. 
The  wind  whipped  her  hair  and  clothes  into 
greatest  disorder.  But  her  eyes  were  brave, 
and  made  pretty  with  excitement.  Her  color 
ran  high.  She  was  a  goodly  sight. 

I  beat  upon  the  rusty-hinged  door,  and 
loathly  at  first,  later  with  more  friendliness,  at 
the  assured  touch  of  my  shoulder,  it  yielded 
clumsily.  A  big  clap  of  thunder  was  followed 
by  a  merciless  sweep  of  wind  that  sent  all  light 
interior  articles  flying  wildly.  At  once  I 
propped  the  lopping  door  to  with  a  heavy  oak- 
table,  and  began  looking  about  for  temporary 
possibilities  for  kindling  a  fire  on  the  immense 
hearth. 

My  newly  made  companion  swept  the  situa- 
tion comprehensively.  "Isn't  it  fortunate," 


94       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

she  said,  "that  our  former  tenant's  wife  had  a 
case  of  nerves,  whatever  that  might  be !  When 
she  vacated  this  cottage  she  insisted  she  would 
never  survive  life's  waves  unless  she  left  all 
familiar  objects  behind  her!  Why  there  is 
enough  to  be  decently  comfortable  for  a  num- 
ber of  hours,  if  need  be.  See  the  wood- 
box  for  instance — half -full!  Let's  kindle  a  fire 
at  once.  Then  the  lightning  can  flash  as  it 
will.  I  have  always  thought  that  when  flame 
meets  flame  the  circumstances  are  not  half  so 
lugubrious !  I  used  to  make  poor  Daddy  place 
a  candle  at  my  very  bedside  during  storms  in 
my  childhood  days.  Then  I  felt  perfectly 
safe." 

I  was  struck  at  once  with  the  fanciful  turn  of 
this  young  girl's  mind,  and  consequently  deter- 
mined to  please.  I  sank  immediately  on  the 
dusty  hearthstone  and,  drawing  my  knife  from 
my  pocket,  whittled  diligently  at  a  bit  of  wood 
I  found  within  reach.  There  was  plenty  of 
loose  paper;  the  wall-covering  itself  offering 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       95 

a  temptation  in  its  floating  strips.  I  always 
carried  a  good  supply  of  matches.  Soon  a 
gloriously  friendly  fire  roared  up  the  chimney, 
in  spite  of  the  defying  elements. 

"Oh,  isn't  it  splendid  to  know  that  the  horses 
are  safely  housed  outside;  and  that  there  is 
plenty  of  fuel  in  the  box!"  my  girl-friend  ex- 
claimed luxuriantly  as  she  stretched  her  hands 
before  the  fire  and  watched  me  playing  havoc 
with  the  gloom.  "As  soon  as  we  get  good  and 
warm,  let's  explore.  There's  one  more  room 
— a  sort  of  storehouse.  Suppose  we  see  what 
manner  of  persons  they  were  by  what  they  have 
left  behind." 

I  fell  at  once  into  her  mood,  and  after  warm- 
ing ourselves  gratefully,  we  left  what  had 
served  as  living-dining-sleeping  room  com- 
bined for  what  was  evidently  devoted  entirely 
to  storing  purposes.  Two  old-fashioned  brass- 
tack-decorated  trunks  occupied  this  room,  in  op- 
posite corners.  Miss  Vickery  lifted  the  lid  of 
one  eagerly  and  drew  out  a  blue  gingham- 


96       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

dress.  "The  secret  of  happy  marriages,"  she 
declaimed  laughingly.  "A  woman  who  is  will- 
ing to  sacrifice,  and  do  without  glad-rags,  until 
her  husband  is  able  to  buy  them  for  her  easily. 
That  is  the  reason  why  I  would  advocate  early 
marriage — very  early  marriage,  before  a 
woman  has  gone  out  into  the  world,  mingled 
with  the  velvet  and  plush  and  plumes,  and, 
thereby,  become  an  extortionist!" 

"But  surely  you  will  agree  with  me  that  the 
primitive  days  are  over,"  I  said.  "The  days 
when  our  mothers  were  content  to  wield  the 
loom,  have  one  best  dress  every  four  years,  and 
yield  their  whole  existence  to  the  raising  of  a 
family  of  ten  or  twelve." 

"No,  I  don't  agree,"  my  companion  ex- 
claimed turning  upon  me  excitedly.  "It  is  not 
the  usual,  I  confess;  but  there  are  a  few  rare 
strong  souls  that  understand  every  note  of  the 
primitive!"  She  held  as  she  spoke  a  pair  of 
blue-jean  overalls  and  flannel  shirt,  wrested 
from  the  middle  of  the  trunk.  "It  is  content- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       97 

ment  that  we  lack  hugely  these  days — along 
with  the  willingness  to  sacrifice.  I  believe  this 
very  element  drives  countless  young  men  and 
women  out  into  life  to  go  astray.  For,  again, 
in  early  marriage  is  a  chance  for  highest  moral 
growth.  But  I  blame  my  own  sex  almost  en- 
tirely. I  believe  that  if  the  woman  would  sac- 
rifice, the  man  would  be  gladly  willing,  and 
have  far  less  taste  for  the  world's  vagaries.  I 
love  to  think  of  the  days  of  our  great-grand- 
mothers, when  the  ax  swung  as  a  frequent 
sound  in  the  woods;  when  the  homes  were  of 
crudest  timber;  and  the  wind  howled  in  through 
the  plaster;  and  the  snow  drifted  over  attic- 
beds;  and  candles  beamed  early  in  the  cabins, 
while  good  dames  cooked  their  solid  meals ;  and 
real  men  fed  stock,  and  drew  water  by  means  of 
creaking  chains,  caked  solid  in  ice." 

I  was  fascinated  with  the  drift  of  her  talk. 
Not  that  it  was  so  new,  but  it  was  clearly  not 
a  pose ;  it  was  a  part  of  her  very  being.  As  I 
listened  to  her  she  became  the  embodiment  of  it 


98       THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

all — running  brooks;  sweet  ferns  and  flower; 
tangles  of  undergrowth;  almost  impenetrable 
stretches  of  distances  and  shadow;  high  moun- 
tain-crags, and  then  melting  back  to  me  from 
the  soft  pastel  colorings  over  the  looming  cliffs 
into  just  herself  again — a  sweet,  strong-framed, 
animated  woman. 

" Then  you  believe  in  all  the  rest?"  I  laughed. 
"The  good  country-squire  who  attains  unto  no 
special  education ;  but,  kind  of  heart,  and  wisely 
analytical  by  nature,  rises  in  the  esteem  of  his 
fellow-citizens,  and  having  served  a  good  and 
lengthy  life-term,  leaves  behind  him  a  tolerable 
income  and  a  mightily  numbered  family  as  his 
contribution  to  the  world!" 

She  did  not  answer  this ;  for,  womanlike,  she 
had  gone  suddenly  exploring  elsewhere. 
"Oh,"  she  cried,  her  eyes  filled  with  a  light  of 
the  strictly  practical  housewife  that  has  sud- 
denly made  a  most  valuable  discovery,  "look 
what  this  cupboard  contains.  My,  what  a  care- 
less, shiftless  wife  to  leave  all  this  behind !  A 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL       99 

coffee-pot,  almost  new,  a  can  of  pulverized  cof- 
fee; a  box  of  graham  crackers — oh,  you  must 
open  them.  I  cannot  bear  the  strain,  if  we  find 
them  moldy!  And  here  is  a  can  of  condensed 
milk,  a  jar  of  marmalade,  and  five  whole  lumps 
of  sugar — a  feast  for  a  king!  But  one  thing 
lacks — there  is  not  a  drop  of  water  for  the  cof- 
fee, and  the  storm  must  be  a  terrible  one — for 
I  can  hear  it  now  and  then,  and  actually  see  the 
flash  of  lightning  even  above  the  roar  and 
gleam  of  that  glorious  fire!" 

I  pulled  my  riding-coat  collar  high,  drew  my 
cap  very  low  and  prepared  to  make  the  plunge. 
1  'Men  of  primitive  days,'*  I  declared,  "men 
who  could  rise  at  candle-light  to  feed  stock  and 
draw  water  by  means  of  ice-cased  chains,  surely 
would  not  hesitate  on  account  of  a  howl  of  the 
elements.  I  shall  not  be  found  weak  by  com- 
parison. I  noticed  a  bucket  on  the  table  in  the 
other  room.  Storm  or  no  storm,  I  shall  fill  it 
to  the  brim!" 

The  girl  made  no  protest.    I  liked  that  in 


100     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

her.  She  neither  evinced  nor  encouraged  fear. 
I  pictured  her  in  my  mind  as  a  type  of  the 
staunch  women,  who  in  the  great  Indian-slaugh- 
ter crisis,  covered  her  family  with  huge  copper 
kettles,  and  unflinchingly  took  her  stand,  to 
parley  with  the  enemy. 

When  I  returned  but  a  few  moments  later, 
she  had  accomplished  in  that  facile  manner, 
which  some  women  own,  a  multitude  of  things. 
A  table,  drawn  near  to  the  leaping  flames,  was 
covered  with  a  Japanese  butterfly-bordered 
cloth;  the  fire  had  been  stirred  into  renewed 
cheerfulness;  two  chairs  were  pulled  close  to 
the  table ;  and  an  old  lamp,  about  which  a  bit  of 
red  crepe-paper  was  twisted,  offered  a  sugges- 
tion of  "hominess"  unparalleled. 

"I  am  so  glad  I  met  you  just  in  time. 
Father  will  be,  too.  It  seems  so  much  safer 
where  two  are  together,"  she  exclaimed  with  a 
smile,  thus  deigning  her  one  tribute  to  conven- 
tion. "And  now  get  dry  by  the  fire,  and  I  will 
have  our  meal  ready  in  a  jiffy." 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     101 

After  our  very  early  tea,  enjoyable  in  every 
detail,  for  my  companion  was  so  beautifully 
wholesome  and  natural,  and  yet  born  of  a  won- 
drously  pleasing  fanciful  mind,  she  pushed  back 
her  chair,  and  showed  her  true  instincts  as  a 
neat  housekeeper.  "I  will  forage  about  in  the 
trunks  and  see  if  there  is  not  some  provision  for 
dish-drying,"  she  laughed.  "I  can  not  bear 
to  leave  things  out  of  order.  Perhaps  some 
other  storm-pressed  mortals  may  find  tempo- 
rary shelter  here." 

I  drew  out  my  silver  cigarette-case,  and  fell 
to  smoking  with  the  greatest  sense  of  "home 
coziness"  I  had  ever  yet  experienced,  even  dur- 
ing my  delightful  hours  at  Senator  Bucking- 
ham's. The  glad  leap  of  the  fire — the  click  of 
dishes,  the  sound  of  an  efficient  feminine-step — 
are  there  any  details  in  life  more  hugely  satis- 
factory to  a  male  heart ! — only  one,  and  the  in- 
nocent portrayal  of  that  was  soon  to  be  my 
unmaking.  Suddenly  Edith  Vickery's  foot- 
steps stopped ;  a  trunk-lid  snapped  open,  a  space 


102     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

of  silence  followed,  then  came  a  little  ejacu- 
latory  cry  of  dismay. 

In  keenest  attention  as  I  was,  I  sprang  in- 
stantly to  my  feet  and  entered  the  other  room, 
taking  Edith  quite  unawares.  In  one  hand  she 
held  a  motley  assortment  of  footwear — from  the 
tiniest  absurdity  of  moccasin  to  the  sturdy, 
knee-patched  stocking;  in  the  other,  infant's 
garments — tiny  bootees,  filmy  dresses,  mock- 
eries to  comfort  in  their  long  insistence ;  a  white- 
embroidered  cloak  that  would  have  been  but  a 
whiff  in  case  of  real  storm.  ' '  Oh, ' '  she  panted 
unaware  of  any  audience,  "what  a  hard- 
hearted wretch  she  must  have  been  to  leave 
these  dear  treasures  behind!"  The  next  sec- 
ond she  had  seen  me  and  dropped  them  all  deep 
in  the  trunk  with  a  little  flush  of  annoyance. 

I  felt  a  sudden  inexplicable  but  unconquer- 
able yearning  to  be  a  part  of  these  simple  but 
heart-filling  conceptions.  College  glories ;  busi- 
ness opportunities,  what  my  own  family  might 
think — all  faded  from  my  mind.  I  leaned  sud- 


THE  SIXGLE-CODE  GIRL     103 

denly  toward  the  primitive  alone.  I,  too,  heard 
now  the  swing  of  the  strong  ax-stroke  in  the 
woods;  I  felt  the  exhilaration  that  comes  only 
from  most  arduous  manual  labor;  I  saw  the 
glimmer  of  the  candle  that  my  housewife,  crav- 
ing no  other  man's  praise  than  mine,  had  set 
in  the  window  to  guide  my  tired  footsteps  home. 
I  even  dared  to  hear,  in  my  eager  impetuosity, 
the  glad  welcoming  cry  of  sturdy  children — 
pink-cheeked  girls  that  would  help  the  mother 
in  her  brave  struggles;  boys  that  would  stand 
at  my  side,  skillful  masters  of  nature.  I  smelt 
delightedly  the  finely  concocted  supper  that 
simmered  in  waiting  on  the  stove;  I  felt  the 
touch  of  tender,  believing,  unselfish  hands.  .  .  . 
I  could  stand  no  more. 

"Edith,"  I  cried  out,  for  I  knew  the  first 
name  of  this  wealthy  fanner's  daughter  well, 
"let  me  be  your  primeval  master!  I,  too, 
above  all  other  men  of  to-day,  I  am  confident, 
love  the  swinging  stir  of  the  forest-ax ;  the  stur- 
diness  of  li ving ;  the  absence  of  all  artificiality ! 


104     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

A  cabin  with  you  as  mistress  to  return  to  of 
evenings!  Surely  that  would  be  all  any  man's 
heart  could  ask!" 

But  she  drew  away  from  my  advancing  steps 
firmly.  The  light  of  the  leaping  fire  in  the  ad- 
joining room  lit  her  face  into  Madonna  glow. 
''No,"  she  refused,  "no!  There  is  almost  a 
complete  understanding  with  some  one  else — a 
farmer  by  birth." 

This  verdict  would  have  settled  it,  perhaps; 
though  I  felt  much  like  a  spirited  and  shame- 
less young  colt  that  recognizes  that  the  full 
range  of  the  pasture-lot  is  his  for  the  time 
being.  But  a  brilliant  flash  of  lightning,  fol- 
lowed by  a  tree-crash  and  an  ominously  near 
stroke  of  thunder  lent  me  a  temporary  advan- 
tage. The  girl  paled  for  the  first  time,  and 
when  the  wind,  ever  furious  in  its  raging,  beat 
even  the  optimistic  flame  on  the  hearth  into 
sordid  smoke-choking,  she  wilted  involuntarily 
against  me — submissive. 

"Dear  Storm-Protector,"  she  said  very  low 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     105 

in  the  enclosure  of  my  arms,  "I  thought  I  had 
found  my  ultimatum;  but  never  was  there  a 
man  of  such  keen  understanding  of  the  true 
meaning  of  what  makes  up  the  best  in  life.'* 

"My  sweet  little  Blue-Homer  Girl,"  I  cried, 
kissing  her  hair,  her  pretty  forehead,  her  red 
full  lips;  "that  is  what  I  will  ever  call  you. 
You  have  the  gentle  dignity  of  those  soft-toned 
pigeon-birds;  you  have  their  big  love  of  home 
— the  spirit  that  will  keep  you  willingly  there, 
or  bring  you  quickly  back,  in  spite  of  biggest 
artificialities  or  false  allurements.  Oh,  our 
lives  together  will  surely  be  the  most  peaceful 
that  this  old  world  has  ever  known!" 

I  left  Edith  at  her  home-door  as  soon  as  the 
clearing  of  the  storm  into  splendid  rarity  of 
atmosphere  made  it  possible  for  us  to  leave  our 
little  hallowed  cottage-spot.  I  pleaded  my  in- 
ability to  lay  our  case  before  her  parents  that 
evening  from  very  excess  of  happiness,  but 
promised  to  be  over  early  on  the  morrow. 


106     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

As  I  rode  home  in  my  saddle,  my  head  bent 
slightly  low  before  the  still-energetic  wind,  my 
whole  being  pulsed  and  throbbed  with  the  joy 
and  novelty  of  the  situation.  I  forgot  that  my 
heredity  and  training  had  included  anything  but 
the  primitive;  I  forgot  my  mere  handful  of 
years.  I  even  overlooked  the  cowardly  part  I 
had  played  in  helping  myself  to  what  was,  un- 
doubtedly, the  possible  property  of  another!  I 
heard  only  the  invigorating  stroke  of  the  swing- 
ing ax  in  the  woods ;  felt  only  the  splendid  ex- 
hilaration of  a  life  spent  necessarily  out  of 
doors.  I  found  myself  tugging  mentally,  with 
exceeding  pleasure,  at  the  heavy  iced  chains  of 
the  well-bucket.  I  heard  myself  stamping  high- 
booted  snow-clogged  foot-apparel  lustily,  and 
then  tossing  open  the  heavy,  crudely  made 
frame-door  for  a  sight  that  would  gladden  any 
man's  eyes — supper,  emitting  delightful  odors, 
from  brass  kettles,  on  a  finely  polished  stove; 
a  table  set  in  homely,  but  shining  cloth,  blue 
dishes  and  cheery  candles;  and,  best,  far  best 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     107 

of  all,  a  wholesome,  pink-cheeked  happy  wife  in 
blue  gingham  and  white-bibbed  apron,  coming 
across  the  room  to  welcome  me  home  for  the 
night.  But,  oh,  that  possibility  of  my  future- 
life  I,  raised  alone  and  often  utterly  lonesome, 
could  never  shut  entirely  out  from  my  heart,  not 
even  when  decorum  seemed  to  demand  it! — 
she  came  not  empty-handed !  For  held  close  in 
her  left  arm  was  a  little  white-clad  squirming 
bundle,  and,  somehow,  I  felt  gladly  that  there 
would  be  others — and  others — and  others — each 
as  wholesome  and  simply  reared  and  sturdy- 
minded  as  the  first !  My  worth,  too,  in  the  little 
village,  as  an  honest,  contented  but  unerring- 
minded  citizen  would  soon  be  felt.  I  would  be 
elected  judge,  or,  at  least,  called  the  village- 
squire.  I  would  be  a  leader  in  the  church ;  and 
it  would  be  our  children — Edith's  and  mine — 
that  were  invariably  chosen  for  the  holiday 
speeches,  and  the  school-celebrations.  Of 
course  they  would  be  musical,  and,  one  espe- 
cially very,  very  fond  of  reading;  another  of 


108     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

art.  There  would  never  be  any  heartache  for 
my  wife  and  me  to  endure  on  account  of  our 
children's  actions!  Eaised  in  a  simple,  primi- 
tive way,  from  the  very  nature  of  things  they 
could  seek  only  the  sturdy  and  worth-while. 
And,  oh,  how  my  finger-tips  tingled  on  the  reins 
when  I  thought  of  the  pink-cheeked,  brilliant- 
eyed  grandchildren  that  would  dance  out  of 
their  sleighs  holiday-times,  to  celebrate  with 
Edith  and  me.  She  would  be  snowy-haired 
then,  but  with  the  embellishment  of  the  dainty 
lace  cap,  she  would  be  even  more  beautiful  than 
in  youth.  I,  with  a  conscience  clear,  and  a 
knowledge  of  a  life  that  meant  quite  a  bit  to  my 
immediate  loved  ones,  and  my  village,  too,  would 
be  a  venerable  sire,  easy-moving,  content,  rich 
in  a  wholesome  old  age ! 

But  on  what! 

I  drew  my  horse  in  with  a  suddenness  that 
sent  him  rearing  high,  and  might  have  proved 
my  finish,  had  I  not  been  well-skilled  in  the  art 
of  riding.  While  I  controlled  him,  I  was  still 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     109 

wrestling  with  the  formidable  thought.  Even 
the  ax-swinging,  child-raising,  squire-esteemed 
act  would  take  some  money,  though  conducted 
on  most  primitive  principles! 

Having  prepared  myself,  as  yet,  along  no 
special  line,  I  must  of  a  necessity  go  to  my 
father.  But  in  spite  of  owning  a  vividly  imag- 
inative mind,  I  could  not  picture  the  scene. 

"Father,"  I  might  say,  after  having  gained 
an  audience  in  some  miraculous  way,  "I  am  not 
long  eighteen,  but  I  think  I  shall  settle  down 
now  and  marry.  I  have  chosen  a  girl  of  the 
purely  farmer-type,  because  my  own  tastes  are 
toward  the  elemental;  and  she  is  a  strong  be- 
liever in  this  line.  But  even  though  I  expect  to 
live  in  blue  overalls  in  constant  proximity  to 
the  swinging  ax,  I  shall  probably  need  some 
stated  income.  This  is  all  the  more  important 
as  I  realize  that  you  would  hardly  care  to  have 
me  become  a  menial;  and  since  Edith's  and  my 
tastes  might  run  to  a  family  of  ten  or  twelve, 
it  would  be  more  comfortable  to  be  assured  of 


110     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

a  monthly  income,  other  than  that  which  could 
be  gleaned  from  the  disposing  of  kindling-wood 
and  the  sale  of  strictly  fresh  eggs !  How  much 
would  you  be  willing  to  insure  I ' ' 

The  Master  of  Ancient  Hieroglyphics  would 
not  understand  me  in  the  least.  I  realized  this 
even  in  the  first  heat  of  my  enthusiasm.  He 
would  spurn  me  utterly  I  felt  assured,  did  he 
know  the  real  truth — that  I  had  gleaned  my  joy 
from  the  possible  possession  of  another  man; 
for,  as  I  said  before,  he  was  strictly  honest. 
And  up  to  this  time  I  supposed  I  had  inherited 
this  one  trait  from  him.  And  yet  I  had  taken 
advantage  of  an  unusually  fierce  storm,  and  the 
absence  of  the  Other  Party  to  land  my  plea. 

I  rode  on  disconsolate,  my  face  hot  with 
shame,  for  over  a  mile,  then  I  came  back  firmly 
to  the  inevitable.  I  could  appeal  to  my  beauti- 
ful mother,  of  course.  To  ask,  was  to  gain  in- 
stantly with  her.  But  to  have  any  one  else 
share  my  love — to  agree  to  my  marrying  in  a 
field  entirely  foreign  to  my  scholarly  heredity 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     111 

— would  her  heart  stand  the  strain!  With  the 
exhilaration  and  philanthropically  inclined  op- 
timism of  youth,  I  could  figure  sanely  enough 
that  it  was  time  for  the  rebound  in  myself  from 
highest  mentality  to  the  strictly  wholesome, 
plain  and  practical,  for  the  sake  of  future  gener- 
ations! But  would  she  think  this!  Any 
mother  is  slow  to  resign  an  only  son  to  a  vision- 
ary cause.  Her  heart,  too,  was  so  weak  that 
I  would  not  permit  myself  the  experiment. 
Then  there  was  but  one  course  left — to  see 
Edith  in  the  morning  and  ask  her  to  wait  a  few 
years — to  trust  me  to  the  tossings  of  the 
world's  elements,  until  I  was  of  age  in  every 
state,  at  least.  At  the  end  of  that  time  I  felt 
assured  I  could  go  back  readily  to  blue-jeans, 
and  all  that  the  willing  acceptance  of  blue-jeans 
involved  I 

But  the  restless  night  that  I  passed  was  un- 
necessary; and  all  my  premature  plans.  By 
eight  the  following  morning  our  butler  tapped 
at  the  door,  and  delivered  the  message  from 


112     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

Edith's  father  that  he  would  like  to  see  me  that 
day  even,  when  a  convenient  hour  arrived. 

I  had  no  real  conception  of  what  the  meeting 
might  mean;  but  I  realized  that  it  could  rea- 
sonably be  a  bitter  denunciation  of  the  advan- 
tage that  I  had  taken  over  another  in  storm- 
surroundings.  I  felt,  however,  a  grateful  sense 
of  independence  so  far  as  my  name  was  con- 
cerned. However  unjust  I  might  have  been, 
I  realized  that  the  son  of  such  parents  as  mine 
and  I,  a  youth,  as  yet,  steadfast  in  habit,  could, 
in  proposing,  have  offered  only  an  indiscretion. 
I  prepared  my  toilet  with  unusual  care,  and  at 
ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  set  forth  on  horse- 
back toward  Vickery's  comfortable  farmhouse. 

Ed,  it  has  always  been  my  peculiar  fortune 
to  meet,  in  matters  of  great  moment,  with  men 
of  big  understanding.  My  slightest  fears  of 
stern  rebuke  were  quickly  dissipated  when  Vick- 
ery,  a  big-framed,  wholesome  type  of  farmer, 
met  me  at  the  porch  step,  and  directed  a  young 
boy  to  see  to  it  that  my  horse  was  so  treated 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     113 

that  lie  would  like  to  return  again.  He  led 
me,  soon  after,  to  a  wide  living-room,  through 
which  fresh  breezes  chased  in  every  direction, 
and  bade  me  occupy  one  of  the  most  inviting 
chairs,  near  a  table  that  was  heaped  high  with 
magazines  of  interesting  and  scientifically  sug- 
gestive covers. 

"You  smoke,  Holland ?"  he  asked,  offering 
me  a  box  of  really  good  cigars.  Then  plung- 
ing his  huge  frame  into  a  chair  of  most  com- 
prehensive wideness  of  cushions,  he  started 
frankly  into  his  subject.  "It  was  very  fortu- 
nate that  you  met  my  daughter,  yesterday,  Hol- 
land. We  were  fiercely  distracted  for  a  time, 
knowing  her  to  be  far  out  on  the  hills.  But  she 
tells  me  you  gave  her  courage;  and  having 
reached  our  tenant's  deserted  cottage,  built  a 
fire,  while  she  prepared  as  copious  a  meal  as 
the  circumstances  permitted!  She  was  not 
even  chilled.  We,  my  wife  and  I  and  Edith, 
surely  owe  you  a  sincere  vote  of  thanks." 

I  lit  a  cigar  with  relieved  lightness.    "A 


114     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

storm  seldom  offers  anything  so  pleasant  as  the 
companionship  of  your  daughter,"  I  asserted 
warmly. 

Vickery  smiled.  "Nor  one  as  wholly 
wrapped  in  her  own  theories,  I  wager !  Edith 
is  the  natural  reproduction  of  many  genera- 
tions of  successful  farmers.  She  is  intensely 
interested  in  the  elemental — understands  every- 
thing to  the  heart's  core  when  it  comes  to  deal- 
ing with  all  that  is  simple  and  contented-like  in 
life.  And,  by  Jove,  I  don't  know  but  that  she's 
half  right!  It's  hard  to  coax  young  men  and 
women  back  after  they  are  once  started,  though 
why  they  want  to  go  pell-mell  out  into  the  world 
so  often  when  they  have  good  homes,  I  can't 
imagine!"  He  corrected  himself  with  a  smile. 
"At  least  I  see  it  Edith's  way,  now  that  I  am 
older  and  grown  content!  But  even  her  year 
at  college  did  not  teach  her  restlessness.  She 
thought  it  too  shut-in  to  care  to  go  back!" 

Then  Edith  had  not  told  him  all !  Aside  from 
the  expected  report  concerning  the  storm,  I 


THE  SIXGLE-CODE  GIRL     115 

felt,  she  had  left  him  innocent  of  happenings, 
or  he  would  have  waited  for  me  to  open  the 
vital  subject  before  telling  of  her  views.  No 
wonder  he  was  so  pleasant,  I  reasoned  now. 

Vickory  poured  a  glass  of  foaming  amber 
cider  and  pushed  it  toward  me,  helping  himself 
to  another.  " There  is  only  one  flaw  to  Edith's 
reasoning,  if  you  will  pardon  an  old  man's  ram- 
blings, ' '  he  went  on  whimsically.  ' '  She  forgets 
that  only  those  who  are  really  used  to  the  flap- 
ping of  blue-gingham  dresses  and  overalls  on 
the  weekly  clothes-line,  are  best  fitted  to  their 
wearing!" 

Then  Edith  had  told  all!  I  lifted  attempt- 
edly  brave  eyes  for  the  consequent  accusation. 
But  Vickery  was  busy  dissecting  some  squares 
of  hickory-nut  candy.  "That  is  the  reason  my 
wife  and  I  are  so  glad  she  is  to  marry  one  of 
her  very  own  kind.  Wilbur  is  a  successful 
scientific  farmer.  He  understands  every  for- 
ward move  of  real  worth,  and  quickly  eliminates 
the  merely  visionary  from  the  practical.  He 


116     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

knows  the  privations,  and  need  for  earnest  man- 
ual labor ;  lie  is  simply  a  master  in  the  rotation 
of  crops ! ' ' 

Then  Edith  had  told  nothing.  My  brain  be- 
gan to  spin  confusedly.  It  took  in,  absurdly 
enough,  one  phrase  alone,  "Rotation  of 
crops."  The  very  term  appalled  me !  Should 
wheat  follow  oats;  or  cabbages,  onions!  And 
yet  no  doubt  the  welfare  of  a  vigorous  family 
hung  often  upon  these  very  solutions  I  Surely 
it  was  by  no  means  included  in  my  heredity! 
But  perhaps  I  could  have  learned  it  by  earnest 
application  to  books ! 

Vickery  was  speaking  again.  His  tones  bore 
real  interest.  He  had  pushed  another  foaming 
cup  of  cider  forward  and  was  addressing  me,  a 
mere  slip  of  eighteen,  as  man  to  man!  "I  hear 
you  will  take  up  the  law,  Holland.  Your  father 
is  a  wonderful  man.  His  rare  lectures  have 
stirred  me  into  fullest  enthusiasm.  A  son  of 
his  will  surely  never  be  content  with  any  other 
degree  than  the  best.  Isn't  it  wonderful  how 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     117 

many  color-schemes  figure  in  nature !  I  am  con- 
tent, however,  with  thinking  that  the  blue  is  as 
much  needed  as  the  red,  the  gray  as  the  orange. 
We,  who  are  farmers,  recognize  our  value  as 
practical  and  hygienic  balances;  you,  of  schol- 
arly heredity,  are  as  much  needed  to  make  a  part 
of  this  old  world  go  around  just  right.  But  it 
hardly  seems  to  me  that  one  blend  fits  harmoni- 
ously into  the  other,  unless  there  is  such  a  fear- 
ful insistence  one  way  that  there  is  actual  need 
of  a  Recall." 

Then  Edith  had  told  all;  and  while  undoubt- 
edly refusing  his  daughter  to  me,  this  big  man 
had  met  me  in  the  most  rational  way  possible. 
He  accepted  me  as  a  youth  that  had  reached 
manhood's  judgment,  and  appealed  to  my  better 
sense.  I  could  never  thank  him  enough  for  the 
sane  and  fair  way  with  which  he  dealt  with  my 
youthful  impetuosity.  There  was  nothing  left 
to  me  now  but  to  make  a  grateful  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  hospitality,  and  then  seek  Edith  for 
a  final  going-over  of  the  whole  affair;  and  a 


118     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

definite  understanding  of  just  how  I  came  out 
with  her ! 

When  I  inquired  for  her,  however,  she  was 
not  to  be  found.  But  at  the  gate,  as  I  rode 
forth  in  disappointed  and  decidedly  confused 
spirits,  she  sprang  suddenly  into  being,  a  vision 
of  charming  freshness  in  her  thin  white  elbow- 
sleeved  gown.  She  held  out  a  big  burst  of  pink 
roses,  hedged  in  delicate  maidenhair.  "Take 
these  to  your  mother,  Ory,"  she  said.  "They 
are  the  very  last  of  the  season."  She  patted 
my  horse 's  flank  as  she  spoke,  with  a  familiarity 
due  to  long  experience  with  spirited  horse- 
flesh. "And,  Ory,  it  was  all  due  to  the  storm- 
elements,  that — that  my  feminine  equilibrium 
was  upset;  don't  you  think  so !  And  please  for- 
give me !  I  am  glad  I  met  my  one  test  before 
marriage  rather  than  after;  but,  Ory,  I  shall 
never,  never  forget  that  cottage-shelter  from 
the  storm.  I  love  Wilbur  the  best  in  the  world, 
of  course.  He  is  more  fitted  to  me  by  genera- 
tions of  training.  But  remember,  my  one  di- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     119 

gression  shall  ever  seem  to  me  the  sweetest 
memory  in  the  world." 

I  accepted  the  finality  of  it  all;  but,  as  yet, 
I  was  not  able  or  willing  to  resign  gracefully 
what  seemed  my  best  hope  for  entering  other 
conditions.  I  took  the  beautiful  flowers,  for 
the  very  delight  they  would  give  my  precious 
motherkin ;  but  I  drove  my  spurs  without  need 
into  the  flanks  of  my  favorite  horse.  Once  out- 
side the  gate  I  cried  out  an  ultimatum:  "It's 
nice  where  I  come  out,  to  hope  and  then  be 
stowed  away  so  soon  as  a  *  sweet  memory.' 
But  I  love  woman,  only  to  bring  trouble,  it 
seems !  Believe  me  my  college  record  shall  bear 
a  clean  slate,  so  far  as  your  sex  is  concerned! 
But  I  wish  you  every  happiness,  Edith — dear. 
And,  this  time,  a  lover  that  fully  understands  I ' ' 

The  girl  stood  so  fearfully  still  that  I  realized 
instantly  that  she  had  translated  my  last  sen- 
tence as  pure  satire.  I  still  dreaded  hurting 
1 '  little  girl ' '  hearts,  and  nasty-spirited  speeches 
filled  me  with  contempt  for  myself  before  they 


120     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

had  rolled  from  my  tongue.  So  I  whirled  about 
with  an  attempt  at  cheery  commonplace: 

" Edith,"  I  laughed,  "did  you  or  did  you  not 
tell  your  father  that  we  accomplished  an  en- 
gagement yesterday?  I  would  like  to  know  for 
possible  future  convenience  of  speech  and  ac- 
tion!" 

The  girl  lifted  relieved  eyes,  rewarding  me 
with  one  of  her  sweetest  smiles.  "I  did  not 
tell  him,  Ory  Holland!  Once,  long  ago  I  made 
a  twilight  confession  about  pilfering  a  nickel 
for  sweets,  and  he  made  me  wash  dishes  for  a 
week  to  pay  him  back !  I  wanted  you  to  get  the 
*  chore'  penalty  this  time."  As  quickly  her 
blue  eyes  sobered. 

"I  am  so  sorry,  Ory.  And  I  must  have  been 
very  weak — or  stunned  with  the  storm !  It  was 
a  poor  return  for  your  protection  for  me — for 
deep  down  in  my  heart  I  must  have  still  be- 
lieved what  father  and  I  have  always  thought — 
that  men  of  our  own  type  can  understand  us 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     121 

best — and  we  women  prove  the  best  aid  to 
them." 

I  bent  low  in  my  saddle.  * '  But  I  would  have 
put  up  a  big  try  at  least  1 ' '  I  protested. 

"Yes,  I  know!"  Her  hand  slipped  out  into 
mine  with  a  keen  note  of  understanding.  "But 
I  love  Wilbur,"  she  added  simply.  And,  yet, 
in  spite  of  unaltered  circumstances,  our  good- 
by  now  seemed  freighted  with  a  certain  big 
peace. 


LETTER  XI 

Third  Report  from  Holland  to  Aliston. 
Concerning  College  Days,  and  an  Attempt  to 
Act  the  Part  of  Brother.  November  Third; 
at  Ellison  Grove. 

Of  my  early  college  days  I  will  speak  most 
briefly,  Ed.  You  know  some  phases  of  it  far 
better  than  I,  because  you  were  a  more  unsel- 
fish " mixer. "  I  joined  the  crew  and  the  ball- 
team,  though  the  men  that  made  up  these  num- 
bers were  not  at  all  the  home  type.  They 
reveled  in  sheer  brute  force,  taking  only  a  few 
studies  by  compulsion.  When  our  drill  was 
over  I  could  not  see  my  way  clear  to  mix  longer 
with  them.  With  other  classes  I  was  more  pop- 
ular. I  managed  to  open  a  book  and  gather  its 
general  meaning,  and  to  take  copious  notes 

without  being  the  digger  the  college  man  scorns. 

122 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     123 

My  allowance  was  ample.  I  joined  a  fra- 
ternity, gave  dinners  in  my  rooms  and  at 
club,  and  even  sidetracked  my  resolve,  and  suc- 
cumbed, for  a  period,  to  the  importunate  calls 
of  the  "rosebuds,"  clustering  eagerly  about  our 
college  town.  This  I  could  not  keep  up  long, 
however,  as  the  silken-clad  young  maidens, 
gushing  and  gurgling  the  same  thoughts  and 
the  same  sighs,  often  desiring  to  return  to  the 
indignities  of  kindergarten  days  by  being  fed 
ice-cream  on  luxurious  stairways  out  of  our 
special  property  spoons,  reminded  me  of  rows 
of  the  expensive  little  crinkly  stick-candy,  shut 
up  in  glass  jars  on  the  shelves  of  first-class  con- 
fectioners— all  exactly  alike  except  in  color, 
some  running  to  pink  and  lavender,  some  to 
paler  shades  of  blue  and  buff  and  green.  But 
how  wondrous  importuning  for  their  frailty  of 
build!  Why,  I  even  hired  a  small  boy  during 
the  rush-season  to  do  nothing  but  answer  my 
'phone,  and  file  invitations  from  here,  there  and 
everywhere  concerning  horseback-trips,  tramp- 


124     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

ing  week-end  parties  and  a  score  of  other 
sports!  And  I  was  only  one  of  many  whose 
company  was  clamored  for. — You  know  it  is 
argued,  Ed,  that  Eve  had  the  advantage  of 
most  women  because  Adam  found  her  right 
there  on  the  spot,  and  therefore  had  to  love 
her;  but  I  have  always  felt  a  bit  of  sympathy 
for  our  first  mother  to  think  that  she  couldn't 
exercise  woman's  special  amusement  of  chasing 
up  a  score  of  'phone-possibilities!  And  still  I 
wager  a  thousand  to  one  that  if  Adam  were 
really  made  for  her  he  would  have  felt  and 
found  her  just  the  same,  if  he  had  been  forced 
to  walk  up  hills,  through  chasms,  swamps, 
jungles,  and  across  oceans  to  reach  her. 

Isn't  it  odd,  Ed,  that  so  many  young  women, 
swaying  through  the  impetuous  age  of  early 
'teens,  understand  us  men  so  little ;  for  love  and 
marriage  seem  more  absolute  where  there  is 
least  coquetry  or  invitation.  Our  primitive 
sisters  knew  this,  and  remained  quiescent,  while 
the  sons  of  God  found  out  for  themselves  that 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     125 

the  daughters  of  men  were  fair.  The  discovery 
once  made,  in  those  times  or  the  present,  noth- 
ing could  prevent  an  earnest  man  from  at  least 
making  the  attempt  to  follow.  But  when  the 
daughters  of  men  beckon  and  send  and  send — ! 
In  less  than  a  year  I  sickened  of  so-called 
society,  and,  in  a  moment  of  deep  ennui,  remem- 
bered suddenly  why  I  had  been  sent  to  that  par- 
ticular college.  By  reason  of  one,  Professor 
Linkerstein,  whom  my  father  particularly  re- 
spected ;  and  I  did  not  even  know  him  by  sight ! 
At  once  my  curiosity  was  awakened,  and  I  made 
a  point  of  looking  him  up.  He  was  certainly 
an  odd  enough  fellow  with  thick  unmanageable 
curls  that  suggested  a  confused  application  of 
hair-brushes.  He  was  neatness  personified, 
but,  invariably,  wore  a  low  collar  and  flowing 
tie,  save  upon  very  formal  occasions,  when  he 
donned  a  dress-suit,  and  sat  upon  the  platform, 
a  picture  of  rigid  misery.  But  his  eyes  were 
the  best  of  all.  They  looked  right  out  of  a 
child's  interested  soul;  and  actually  seemed 


126     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

to  be  approving  every  one,  and  to  be  urging 
the  assurance  that  each  young  man  was  at  col- 
lege for  the  pure  joy  of  learning.  His  wife 
was  his  exact  counterpart — a  homey,  composed, 
matronly  woman,  with  a  wealth  of  fluffy-hair, 
still  brown,  a  sweet  smile  and  the  same  world- 
untouched  eyes  of  faith.  She  was  always  vi- 
tally interested  in  having  her  husband  change 
his  underwear  or  put  on  his  overcoat  with  the 
slightest  shift  in  temperature.  He  was  con- 
stantly afraid  that  she  was  working  a  little  too 
hard,  and  begging  her  to  sit  down  a  bit.  And 
out  of  this  sweet  solicitude  and  old-fashioned 
constancy  and  faith  had  sprung  one  beautiful 
result — a  daughter — the  girl  with  whom  I  was 
to  attempt  the  role  of  brother. 

Catherine  Linkerstein  was  twenty-three  when 
we  met.  I  was  then  nearly  nineteen.  But  the 
instant  I  saw  her,  playing  tennis  in  the  full 
blaze  of  the  sunlight,  her  sleeves  rolled  high 
over  vigorous,  sunburned  arms,  I  dismissed 
"society"  finally  from  my  surfeited  mind,  and 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     127 

pledged  myself  her  faithful  attendant,  should 
she  graciously  permit. 

The  days  that  followed  were  happy  ones  for 
me,  for  Professor  and  Mrs.  Linkerstein  not  only 
welcomed  me  in  their  simple  hospitable  way, 
but  made  it  plain  that  the  more  I  came  the  bet- 
ter they  were  pleased;  for  they  liked  me  not 
only  for  myself  but  for  reason  of  the  great  es- 
teem in  which  they  held  my  father. 

"Your  father  kept  God  in  my  young  foolish 
heart,  when  the  college  life  and  certain  lines  of 
study  were  about  to  take  Him  out.  I  can  never 
thank  him  enough,"  Professor  Linkerstein  ex- 
plained simply  the  first  day  of  our  meeting; 
and  I  confess  this  view  of  my  parent  as  a  faith- 
inspirer  staggered  me  and  filled  me  with  a  hurt 
again  at  either  my  own  dull  conception  or  the 
absence  of  any  interest  shown  for  me  along  this 
line  by  my  father. 

Catherine  Linkerstein  proved  an  inspiration 
to  me  from  the  start.  More  and  more  often  I 
dropped  into  the  cottage  at  the  end  of  the  col- 


128     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

lege  walls,  until  it  began  to  be  the  expected 
thing  that  I  should  spend  all  my  spare  time  in 
what  they  termed  my  second  home.  Ofter 
Catherine  would  meet  me  at  the  gate,  which  led 
into  their  little  rose-garden,  and  always  her  lips 
and  eyes,  a  very  dark  brown  by  some  odd  back- 
ward leap  in  heredity,  gave  me  a  cordial  wel- 
come. There  was  ever  with  her,  however,  the 
dignity  and  unapproachableness  which  lends  a 
peculiar  charm  to  woman,  and  suggests  a  delay 
in  any  familiarity  of  speech  or  manner.  She 
seemed  to  me  really  a  sweet,  whole-souled,  in- 
terested sister  in  her  frankness  and  hospitality 
with  many,  many  big  thoughts  before  her  be- 
sides those  pertaining  to  matrimony;  and  soon 
we  were  calling  each  other  brother  and  sister 
with  easy  grace.  As  usual  the  woman  played 
the  role  more  skillfully  than  the  man,  with  less 
harm  to  herself.  She  enjoyed  lecturing  me 
when  I  skipped  an  athletic  drill,  broke  the  diet- 
rules,  or  wasted  a  moment  in  idleness.  Life  of- 
fered to  her  a  constant  line  of  activity,  but 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     129 

along  rational  and  effective  lines.  In  stormy 
weather,  when  long  tramps  were  not  desirable, 
she  began  a  course  of  reading  with  me,  and  even 
went  so  far  as  to  insist  upon  giving  me  music- 
lessons.  Often  I  had  to  put  on  a  big  apron  and 
help  her  get  supper  and  wash  dishes,  when  she 
would  laughingly  let  me  choose  between  making 
old-fashioned  pull-candy,  helping  her  mount  in- 
sects, for  nature-study  was  one  of  her  favorite 
hobbies;  or  I  could  just  sit  and  talk  with  the 
family,  in  the  comfortable  old  rockers,  in  front 
of  a  fire  that  burned  the  steadiest,  I  think,  on 
the  wide  hearth  of  any  I  have  ever  known ! 

Many  young  men  dropped  in  to  see  Catherine 
during  this  time,  and  they  were  always  ac- 
corded the  same  pleasant  welcome  by  her  family 
and  herself.  To  me,  however,  was  given  the 
special  privilege  of  constant  companionship.  I 
did  not  have  to  'phone  in  warning  or  petition 
before  entering  this  home.  I  simply  came. 
In  bright  weather,  no  matter  how  chill,  Cather- 
ine and  I  tramped  miles  and  miles  on  insect- 


130     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

hunts ;  and,  thrown  so  familiarly  together,  I  was 
often  amazed  at  the  perfectly  impersonal  way 
with  which  Catherine  seemed  ever  to  regard 
me,  unless  I  was  in  need  of  some  lecture,  or 
course  of  instruction,  or  had  lost  a  button  in 
her  insect-cause;  then  she  flew  immediately  to 
my  aid.  I  was  simply  another  soul,  deeply  in- 
terested in  the  vigorous  pursuit  of  every  bur- 
rowing, creeping  or  flying  animal  or  insect.  I 
was  convenient,  too,  as  a  net-holder  or  rapid 
digger.  I  was  pleasant  as  a  companion,  to 
cheer  the  beauteous  lonesomeness  of  the  way. 
I  was  unfailing  as  an  appreciative  consumer  of 
the  delightful  luncheons  which  Catherine  was 
an  adept  at  planning.  Aside  from  these  vari- 
ous uses,  I  realized  that  I  was  of  less  import  to 
this  sensible  young  girl  than  our  day's  collec- 
tion. My  mind  rebelled  fiercely  at  this,  but  I 
never  gave  voice  to  my  feelings;  for  Catherine 
owned  that  peculiar  power  of  placing  a  man 
just  where  she  wanted  him,  and  keeping  him 
there — for  a  long  time  at  least.  She  had  gra- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     131 

ciously  declared  me  a  brother,  and  a  brother  I 
had  to  content  myself  with  being,  or  run  a 
greater  risk  than  I  was  willing  to  incur — be- 
coming the  object  of  Catherine's  scorn  or  ridi- 
cule, and,  thereby,  losing  out  entirely.  In  jus- 
tification to  the  young  girl  for  what  happened 
afterwards,  I  must  state  truthfully  that  she  not 
only  never  created  situations  for  possible  sen- 
timent, but  in  no  way  would  permit  them.  She 
would  never  tarry  an  instant  in  flowery  or  too 
romantic  spots,  never  linger  on  lovely  hilltops 
for  the  last  rays  of  the  setting-sun,  never  en- 
courage personal  talk  unless  the  subject  fell 
upon  my  choice  of  life-work,  which  she  strongly 
approved.  She  seemed  to  belong  to  some  se- 
cret hindering  power  of  her  own  making.  We 
had  come  out  to  chase  bugs  and  smaller  animals 
faithfully  till  the  sun  gave  its  first  quiescent 
warning.  Then  the  pursuit  was  quickly 
dropped,  and  the  inevitable  result — a  hasty  re- 
treat home.  All  this  was  a  wondrous  change 
and  revelation  from  the  please-take-notice  rose- 


132     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

bud  type  I  had  first  known;  but,  as  the  days 
passed,  it  also  lashed  my  soul  into  fury  to  think 
I  was  getting  nowhere  with  this  young  girl — 
not  a  step  farther  than  when  she  first  held  out 
her  hand  in  interested  greeting. — And  yet  I  now 
admired  her  more  than  any  other  woman  in  the 
world.  Meanwhile,  in  dormitory  and  club- 
houses on  the  hill,  the  boys  raged  nightly  at 
what  they  termed  my  base  desertion  from  their 
ranks. 

It  was  in  the  fall  of  my  second  year  at  col- 
lege that  a  dispatch  reached  me — telling  of  my 
little  mother's  merciful  awakening  in  another 
world.  I  had  expected  this  news  at  any  time, 
but  the  fact  that  it  had  really  come  filled  my 
soul  with  a  grief  that  dulled  me  with  its  force. 
The  one  gentle  but  strong  tie  had  been  broken 
in  the  passing  of  the  beautiful  invalid  mother. 
The  place  of  my  birth  was  no  longer  a  home ! 

My  first  impulse  was  to  take  the  dispatch  to 
my  best  friends ;  and  there  I  found  the  comfort 
that  stirred  me  from  my  lethargy;  into  an  at- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     133 

tempt,  at  least,  to  endure  bravely  what  must 
be. 

"You  would  not  have  it  otherwise,  dear  boy," 
the  professor  said,  covering  my  hand  with  his 
big  ones.  "The  little  mother  was  always  so 
good,  so  gentle,  so  pure.  Now  a  just  God  has 
called  her  into  a  sweetly  merited  rest.  But 
your  father.  Your  poor  father!" 

"And  here  you  must  always  come  now  in  any 
trouble — always,  always,"  whispered  the  ten- 
der-hearted wife,  as  she  folded  me  warmly  in 
her  mother-arms.  ' '  We  could  not  bear  it  other- 
wise." 

But  Catherine's  action  was  the  greatest  sup- 
port of  all.  She  said  nothing  as  she  took  my 
hand  and  held  it  a  moment;  but  her  fine  dark 
eyes  dazzled  with  tears.  A  little  later  I  found 
her  in  traveling-costume,  with  suit-case  ready 
at  the  door.  "I  have  given  Jerry  instructions 
to  send  the  carriage  at  once,"  she  assured  me. 
"The  first  train  leaves  at  1:22.  We  have  no 
time  to  lose." 


134     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

"Why,  where  are  you  going?"  I  questioned 
awkwardly. 

Catherine  stepped  directly  in  front  of  me. 
Her  cheeks  flushed  heavily.  "You  surely 
didn't  think  I  could  desert  a  brother  in  a  time 
like  this!  We  are  all  going  with  you,  of 
course ! ' ' 

The  presence  of  this  family  in  my  home  alle- 
viated a  bitterness  which  I  could  scarcely  have 
endured  alone.  Professor  Linkerstein  was 
constantly  closeted  with  my  father,  the  sight  of 
whose  silent  grief  was  far  too  pitiful  to  be  able 
to  endure  long  at  a  time.  Mrs.  Linkerstein  took 
hold  at  once  in  capable  management  of  the  many 
affairs  that  must  fall  into  the  hands  of  others 
during  these  solemn  times ;  but  Catherine  gave 
her  whole  time  to  the  task  of  helping  me.  From 
the  instant  I  stepped  into  my  father's  study 
to  share  with  him  our  common  grief,  I  realized 
that  I  was  not  needed.  Indeed  the  stone  wall 
that  had  always  been  between  us  appeared  to 
have  reared  suddenly  into  iron  bars  of  hatred 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     135 

on  my  bereaved  parent's  side.  He  seemed  to 
suffocate  beyond  endurance  at  my  very  pres- 
ence. This  I  could  in  nowise  understand.  Ap- 
pealing to  Marie,  in  my  frenzy,  for  an  explana- 
tion, she  only  wept  the  more  copiously  on  my 
shoulder,  refusing  to  give  the  information  that 
I  was  confident  she  knew.  Later  I  found  out 
the  bitter  reason  of  it  all,  when  I  was  least  able 
to  endure  the  truth. 

The  three  days  of  my  stay  at  home  passed  in 
a  half  dream.  I  was  sure  of  only  one  thing, 
that  Catherine  was  ever  at  my  side,  talking 
words — words  which,  often,  I  did  not  hear;  but 
which,  at  least,  kept  me  out  of  deepest  lethargy. 
It  was  my  privilege,  again,  to  look  upon  death 
in  the  most  beautiful  form  possible,  an  impres- 
sion that  has  lingered  with  me  gratefully  even 
to  this  day.  I  had  thought  little  Evelina,  in 
the  gentle  glow  of  pink  surroundings,  the  most 
exquisite  vision  conceivable  in  mortal  mind. 
Now  my  little  mother,  resting  in  hallowed  smil- 
ing sleep,  in  a  close-touching  bed  of  violets, 


136     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

seemed  a  veritable  bit  of  heaven,  granted  us  a 
few  hours  that  we  might  find  a  glimmering  of 
our  way,  too,  and  be  ready  to  come. 

After  the  services  I  left  immediately  with 
the  Linkersteins  for  their  home.  Senator 
Buckingham  was  with  my  father,  and  urged 
that  I  wait  a  month  or  so  before  coming  back  to 
try  to  comfort  the  parent,  whom  it  was  my 
right  above  all  others  to  help,  but  to  whom,  it 
was  my  bitter  knowledge  to  know,  I  was  only  a 
figure  of  terror  and  dislike. 

From  the  date  of  my  quick  return  to  college, 
Catherine  Linkerstein  assumed  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent position  in  my  mind.  I  could  not  forget 
the  slightest  detail  of  her  effort  to  help  me 
through  my  hours  of  bitterness,  nor  the  genuine- 
ness of  her  own  sorrow  for  my  loss.  When  I 
came  into  her  presence  now,  it  was  like  entering 
some  richly  lit  cathedral — some  hallowed  spot. 
We  still  took  our  long  tramps ;  but  I  would  no 
more  have  thought  of  making  love  to  her  now 
than  of  interrupting  a  sweet-faced  nun  at  her 


THE  SIXGLE-CODE  GIRL     137 

prayers.  Every  word  she  spoke  was  a  comfort, 
each  hour  seemed  to  prove  to  me  my  own  un- 
worthiness  and  to  place  her  infinitely  above  me. 
She  became  the  one  direct  link  between  the  little 
heaven-born  mother  and  myself. 

When  I  wakened  slightly  from  my  stunned 
acceptance,  however,  I  noticed  that  Catherine 
herself  had  changed.  She  no  longer  took  the 
initiative  in  this  or  that,  but  laid  certain  plans 
before  me  for  approval.  Often  her  eyes  grew 
troubled,  and  time  and  again  I  found  their 
glance  upon  my  face,  when  I  lifted  mine. 

Once,  when,  contrary  to  her  wont,  we  had  lin- 
gered a  time  on  a  hilltop  flooded  with  sunset 
lights,  I  found  her  bending  slightly  toward  me, 
her  pupils  dilated  into  deep  glory  with  evident 
troublesome  or  excited  thought.  When  I  met 
her  unguarded  look,  she  started,  and  a  confused 
flush  crossed  her  face  for  the  first  time  during 
our  acquaintance. 

"I  was  just  thinking  how  big  and  brave — and 
handsome  you  are,  Ory,"  she  rushed  in  as 


138     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

startled  explanation.  "I  wish  you  were  really 
and  truly  my  own,  own  brother.  It  would  be 
so — nice. ' ' 

"Have  I  ever  failed  in  playing  that  part 
realistically?"  I  asked  with  a  touch  of  grim- 
ness. 

1  'Never!  You  have  been  splendid!"  she  de- 
clared. Then  irrelevantly  it  seemed  to  me, 
"You  are  much  better  now,  much  stronger, 
aren't  you,  Ory?  You  are  sure  you  don't  re- 
gret the  time  you've  wasted  hunting  nature- 
objects  ! ' ' 

"Not  one  instant  spent  with  you  is  ever  lost," 
I  assured  her,  with  an  attempt  to  use  her  own 
matter-of-fact  tones;  but  I  felt  uneasily  that 
something  was  creeping  up  between  us  to  cut 
short  our  splendid  companionship.  She  seemed 
on  the  verge  of  snapping  the  cord  herself,  after 
making  sure  that  I  was  strong  again,  and  able 
to  stand  alone.  I  could  not  understand  this  at 
all  that  moment,  but  very  soon  I  did. 

It  was  on  a  Sunday  afternoon,  just  a  month 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     139 

after  my  mother's  death,  that  I  swung  open  the 
gate  into  the  Linkerstein  rose-garden,  and 
looked  about  for  Catherine.  It  was  a  brilliant 
day,  in  the  latter  part  of  November,  sunshine 
and  fresh  air  vying  with  each  other  for  appre- 
ciation. A  great  peace  had  come,  suddenly, 
into  my  heart,  and  the  insurmountable  barrier 
between  my  play-sister  and  myself  had  taken  a 
lessening  form.  I  knew  I  loved  her,  and  I 
meant  to  act  the  man's  part  hereafter  in  refus- 
ing to  be  held  ever  at  a  distance.  I  would  tell 
her  of  my  love  for  her  that  very  day ! 

Catherine  did  not  come  out  through  the  rose- 
garden  to  meet  me.  Neither  was  she  waiting 
for  me  on  the  porch.  My  peace  received  a  sud- 
den halt;  but  there  was  still  one  solution. 
Often  she  went  down  to  her  fishery  at  the  edge 
of  the  woods.  Fate  was  helping  me  her  utter- 
most by  sending  her  there  to-day.  I  swung 
quickly  about  and  followed  the  narrow  woods- 
path  that  my  play-sister  and  I  had  trod  at  least 
once  each  day. 


140     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

My  surmise  was  correct.  Catherine  was 
standing  close  against  the  trunk  of  the  big 
maple  that  shaded  our  spring-pond.  Fate  had 
not  chosen  me  this  day  as  her  pet,  however.  At 
her  side,  his  head  bent  needlessly  low  in  earnest 
conversation,  stood  a  man.  He  was  older  than 
I,  more  handsome,  more  masterful.  My  heart 
leapt,  outraged,  at  the  sight.  The  next  instant 
this  bold  usurper  held  out  his  arms,  and  would 
have  taken  Catherine  into  them,  had  she  not 
pushed  him  away  with  a  little  protesting  laugh, 
and  a  gently  remonstrating  look  in  her  brilliant 
eyes  that  was  entirely  foreign  to  anything  I  had 
ever  witnessed  in  her.  But  the  man  would  not 
be  repelled.  The  next  second  his  arms  went  out 
again,  not  in  petition  but  rightful  demand,  draw- 
ing Catherine  into  their  firm  hold,  and  circling 
her  close. 

Unbounded  fury  seized  me  now.  I  was  stag- 
gered, but  I  felt  from  long  acquaintance  that  my 
practical  play-sister  would  not  willingly  toler- 
ate such  sentiment  or  boldness.  This  man  had 


THE  SIXGLE-CODE  GIRL     141 

taken  her  unawares ;  and  lie  should  pay  the  pen- 
alty, though  the  death  of  one  of  us  be  the  re- 
sult! Even  as  I  doubled  my  fists  and  strained 
every  muscle  for  the  silent  spring,  I  was  con- 
gratulating myself  for  every  hour  of  athletic 
training.  I  had  forgotten  that  I  had  played  an 
exactly  seemingly  ignoble  part  but  a  short  time 
before  in  the  storm-tossed  cottage  in  the  woods. 
I  was  only  confident  that  I  would  win.  Then  my 
heart  went  sick.  Catherine's  beautiful,  strong 
arms  were  lifting  slowly  in  the  air,  not  in  pro- 
test, but  to  fall  gently  across  the  big  man's 
shoulders,  and  clasp  securely  about  his  neck. 
Then  her  face  turned  and  pressed  closely  to  his 
chest.  She  did  not  need  my  protection  longer. 
The  right  to  give  it  belonged  only  to  this  man ! 
The  effort  I  put  forth  to  suppress  my  leap 
made  several  twigs  crackle  hideously.  Cather- 
ine drew  away  quickly,  and  looked  straight  into 
my  angry  face.  Then  her  own  went  pale,  and 
hesitating  a  space  in  deep  confusion,  she  recov- 
ered with  an  effort  and  called  me  to  her. 


142     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

"Ory,"  she  said  huskily,  "come!  I  want 
Will  to  know  you.  This  is  the  brother  of  whom 
I  have  written  you  so  often,  Will. ' ' 

The  man  would  have  taken  my  hand  in  cor- 
dial greeting;  but,  Ed,  weakened  not  only  by 
this  present  shock  but  by  my  recent  loss  and  bit- 
terness of  my  father's  strange  actions,  I  think 
I  lost  my  reason  for  the  moment.  I  scorned 
the  stranger's  greeting  utterly,  and  while  meas- 
uring his  big  frame  with  thoughts  of  battle,  all 
the  fury  of  which  my  impetuous  nature  was 
capable  gathered  and  burst  upon  poor  Cather- 
ine's head. 

"Why  have  you  deceived  me  about  this!"  I 
demanded.  "Why  have  you  let  me  hope  where 
all  hope  is  mockery!  What  have  I  ever  done 
that  you  should  dare  to  treat  me  thus!" 

Catherine  actually  trembled.  Her  lover  took 
an  involuntary  step  forward,  but  she  motioned 
him  aside.  "Ory!"  she  cried  in  infinitely  hurt 
tones,  "you  can  not  say  that  I  have  ever  encour- 
aged the  least  sentiment  between  us.  I  played 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     143 

fair  from  first  to  last.  I  thought  you  under- 
stood that  we  were  just  make-believe  brother 
and  sister.  I  am  so  much  older  than  you ;  how 
could  I  have  dreamed  otherwise!  I  supposed 
you  liked  to  go  on  long  walks  for  your  own  sake 
too.  I  thought  you  were  intensely  interested 
in  nature-study.  You  never  said  a  word  to 
make  me  think  anything  else.'* 

Ed,  I  did  go  mad  then.  I  forgot  entirely  the 
presence  of  the  third  party;  I  forgot  all  of 
Catherine's  just  ways  and  gracious  kindness. 
I  even  forgot  that  I  was  speaking  to  the  sex, 
where  fury  should  be  coached  in  gentler  terms 
for  the  sake  of  decency  alone.  Only  Marie's 
words,  concerning  the  cruelty  of  woman,  and 
thought  of  the  two  times  I  had  lost  before  with 
her  sex,  leapt  into  my  brain  with  crushing 
force;  and,  for  the  second  time  in  life,  I  met 
Catherine  with  a  fierce  denunciation  of  her  sex. 

"Bugs  and  bats  and  flying  things!"  I  fairly 
howled.  "You  really  thought  I  was  interested 
in  them !  Bugs  1  Bah !  I  hate  the  sight  of  the 


144     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

wriggling,  creeping,  hateful  things,  and  always 
did !  You  would  not  let  me  tell  you  of  my  love. 
You  held  me  off  and  off ;  but  you  did  let  me  play 
a  part,  which  you  knew  all  along  was  in  vain, 
because  I  could  help  fill  in  time  and  protect  you. 
Brother  and  sister  indeed !  I  would  rather  take 
my  chances  at  ramming  a  sharp  spike  into  dy- 
namite than  ever  try  that  pose  again!  All 
women  are  knowingly  cruel  when  they  tamper 
with  relationships  that  are  properly  instituted 
only  by  God — and  you  are  the  cruelest  of  them 
all!" 

Catherine  made  no  answer  to  this  bitter  vin- 
dication. Her  face  became  ghastly  in  its  suf- 
fering, her  lips  trembled;  but  I  felt  the  gulf 
widen  irreparably  between  this  dear  friend  and 
myself,  when  her  grieved  eyes  turned  only  upon 
her  lover,  and  her  strong  body  wilted  against 
his  strong  tender  arms  for  support.  During  a 
moment  of  utter  silence  I  expected  he  would  kill 
me ;  and  awakening  with  sickening  shame  to  the 
outrage  of  my  words,  as  soon  as  they  had  left 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     145 

my  lips,  I  would  truly  have  welcomed  mortal 
combat  at  that  time.  But  he,  too,  proved  him- 
self a  person  with  a  courteous  bigness  of  soul. 
His  eyes  met  mine  in  compassion  rather  than 
challenge.  Somehow  I  felt  that  he  had  been 
through  just  such  a  time  himself  once,  though 
probably  exerting  much  more  admirable  self- 
control,  and  that  he  understood. 

"The  boy  will  be  himself  soon,  Catherine," 
he  comforted.  ''He  will  tell  you  then  that  he 
is  bitterly  mistaken  in  blaming  you  at  all. 
Come,  let  us  go  back  to  the  house." 

Later,  at  eventide,  I  did  find  Catherine ;  and 
in  utmost  dejection  and  humility  begged  her  to 
forgive  as  unjust  accusations  as  man  had  ever 
made.  She  was  most  gracious  in  her  sorrow- 
ing, blaming  herself  for  many  things  without 
cause;  but,  while  expressing  a  sincere  interest 
in  my  future,  she  did  not  even  ask  me  to  come 
again.  We  both  realized  that  an  irreparable 
breach  yawned  between  us,  and  that  our  appear- 
ing on  opposite  sides  of  the  chasm,  to  wave  a 


146     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

bravely  attempted  greeting,  would  only  increase 
the  misery  for  both,  which  was  heavy  enough 
at  best.  When  I  left  her  that  night,  I  left  her 
for  good. 

When  I  think  over  those  days,  Ed,  I  know 
that  Catherine  Linkerstein  had  much  to  do  in 
helping  me  form  the  highest  ideals  concerning 
what  woman  can  sometimes  be  in  purity  and 
strength.  For  this  I  can  never  thank  her 
enough.  But  the  experiment  was  disastrous 
for  the  comfort  of  both  of  us,  as  you  can  see, 
bringing  far  more  pain  than  help.  Personally 
I  am  a  strong  disbeliever  in  the  benefit  to  be  de- 
rived from  platonic  friendship,  in  cases  where 
there  is  the  slightest  possibility  of  any  other  re- 
lation. This  I  thought  I  had  learned  thoroughly 
that  day,  when  I  denounced  forever  one  phase 
of  platonic  friendship — the  brother-and-sister 
relation — but  I  had  yet  to  have  this  truth 
brought  home  with  a  greater  force  than  I  sup- 
posed could  ever  bear  down  upon  me  again. 
• ORISON. 


LETTER  XII 

Fourth  Report  from  Holland  to  Aliston. 
Back  to  the  Boys,  with  Disastrous  Results. 
November  Fifth. 

DEAB  ED: 

The  very  evening  of  the  day  upon  which  I 
had  severed  my  connection  with  Catherine,  I 
went  back  to  the  boys  with  the  determination  to 
make  college  work  my  one  aim.  During  my 
pleasant  home-life  with  the  Linkersteins  I  had 
mingled  with  classmates  constantly,  it  is  true; 
but  they  had  seemed  to  me  more  like  puppets, 
moving  about  me  as  a  necessary  part  of  some 
contest  or  purpose  but  in  nowise  turning  my 
mind  from  the  promised  pleasures  with  the  hos- 
pitable family  of  the  rose-garden  cottage. 

This  obvious  lack  of  interest  in  the  individual 

147 


148     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

would  have  made  me  as  unpopular  with  the  col- 
lege boys  as  was  the  chronic  " digger,"  had  it 
not  been  for  two  facts:  my  mother's  entire  for- 
tune had  fallen  to  me,  and  my  income  was  far 
greater  than  I  cared  to  use.  Sheer  wantonness 
of  spending  always  seemed  disgusting  to  me, 
though  I  knew  little  of  life's  details  outside  of 
the  luxurious,  and  was  always  glad  to  share  my 
gains  and  make  the  inevitable  "loan"  to  the  un- 
prepared. Secondly,  through  my  father,  I 
owned,  fortunately  and  unfortunately,  quick 
comprehension  of  truths,  so  that  study  involved 
little  of  my  time.  Thus  I  had  many  hours  free 
for  oratorical  work  and  athletic  drill.  As  the 
boys  needed  me  in  both  these  lines,  they  toler- 
ated my  oddness;  but,  judging  by  the  fiercely 
cordial  welcome  I  received  when  I  expressed 
my  firm  determination  to  dwell  loyally  in  their 
midst,  I  knew  they  had  secretly  raged  at  my  in- 
difference. 

For  two  months  I  went  in  with  the  boys  for 
all  their  sports  with  the  impetuosity  that  has 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     149 

been  both  a  curse  and  an  aid  to  me  in  all  the  pur- 
suits of  life.  We  dashed  at  reckless  speed  in 
autos,  a  new  thing  then  and,  consequently, 
classed  among  real  luxuries;  played  poker  into 
the  morning  hours;  visited  every  possibly 
original  new-menu  inn  for  miles  around;  gave 
'  *  suppers ' '  constantly  in  our  rooms,  till  the  sight 
of  a  chafing-dish,  or  attempted  mixture  of  dar- 
ingly indigestible  foods  filled  me  with  a  sense  of 
deepest  disgust;  and,  lastly,  pledged  fidelity  to 
each  other  and  total  indifference  to  woman  over 
many  expensive  brands  of  wine;  though  from 
stability  of  inheritance  again,  I  was  never 
tempted  beyond  my  strength.  Many  of  the 
guests  were,  however.  It  became  my  self- 
imposed  duty,  with  the  aid  of  a  few  other  bal- 
anced men,  to  see  the  intoxicated  boys  into  bed 
by  three  o  'clock  at  the  latest,  and  to  waken  them 
at  the  last  second  for  the  strong  doses  of  black 
coffee  that  would  remove  the  traces  of  perfect 
imbecility  for  the  certain  degree  of  intelligence 
demanded  in  the  class-room.  Several  times  the 


150     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

rumor  reached  us  that  the  professors  were  giv- 
ing special  attention  to  our  too-free  way  of  liv- 
ing ;  but  as  long  as  it  was  in  the  form  of  rumor 
alone  or  impersonally  directed  lectures,  no  one 
was  in  the  slightest  degree  troubled;  and, 
strange  as  it  now  seems,  our  class  managed,  for 
a  time,  through  an  unnatural  strain  on  sheer 
grit,  to  retain  the  highest  record  in  oratory, 
athletics  and  general  class-work.  It  became  a 
special  effort,  however,  as  the  days  passed,  to 
redouble  my  own  end  of  study  in  order  to  screen 
my  less  fortunate  classmates  in  their  bluffing. 
As  forced  effort  was  new  to  me,  I  realized 
vaguely  that  our  reckless  way  of  living  was  get- 
ting a  real  hold  on  me,  too ;  and  that  some  day, 
impossible  as  it  had  seemed  to  me  at  first,  I 
might  go  down  in  a  crash  with  the  rest. 

The  day  came  with  alarming  rapidity — or 
rather  the  evening.  It  was  a  weirdly  stormy 
night  in  late  January.  The  sleet  clicked 
sharply  against  the  windows  of  my  living-room, 
in  which  eight  of  us  were  gathered.  The  wind 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     151 

shrieked  soulless  triumph  over  some  ghastly 
nocturnal  discovery.  The  stiffened  limbs  of 
the  maple  on  our  east  slapped  angrily  again 
and  again  against  the  frozen  roof.  Now  and 
then  a  lost  lightning-streak  mingled  in  confused 
fantasy  with  its  unusual  environments. 
Within,  a  big  fire  roared  on  the  hearth.  Food 
and  wine,  books,  cards,  pipes,  and  musical  in- 
struments were  there  in  plenty ;  but  we  were  all 
bored — infinitely  bored  with  the  curse  of  object- 
less hours. 

At  ten-thirty,  Howard  Chester,  always  a 
plunger  into  new  fields,  flung  down  his  pipe, 
and  sprang  like  a  caged  beast  to  the  window 
overlooking  the  dark  blotch  of  lake.  "I  tell  you 
what  it  is,  fellows,"  he  exclaimed,  "this  night 
is  getting  on  my  nerves !  I  propose  we  try  our 
non-skid  machines  on  a  dash  across  the  forest- 
road.  It  is  just  raw  enough  and  rough  enough 
to  cause  a  little  circulation.  We  can  round  up 
at  Owl  Inn.  It  will  look  weird  enough  to-night, 
I'll  wager,  in  its  setting  of  big,  bare-limbed 


152     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

elms.  I  hear  it's  under  new  management,  too, 
and  on  the  way  to  being  the  best  hunger- 
appeaser  around!" 

Every  man  sprang  to  compliance.  The  pros- 
pect of  plunging  a  way  over  crusty  roads, 
through  shrieking  wind  and  under  falling  tree- 
branches  lent  the  zest  of  novelty  at  least.  The 
task  of  trying  to  amuse  one  another  had  become 
an  arduous  one  indeed.  I  felt  infinite  relief,  I 
confess,  at  the  thought  of  passing  from  host  to 
daring  explorer. 

"We'll  take  Jarvis  Brown  with  us,"  Chester 
hurried  on  in  continued  daring,  as  he  stepped 
calmly  from  deerskin  house-shoes  into  my  spe- 
cial-property high  boots.  "He  is  a  menace  to 
the  community  with  his  stubbornly  persistent 
digging  tendencies. ' '  He  broke  into  a  distaste- 
ful laugh.  "And  say,  won't  it  be  rich  to  see 
that  little  kindergarten  chap  take  his  first  dip 
into  real  life  1 ' ' 

I  demurred  at  this  proposition  stoutly,  Ed. 
I  thought  I  knew  Jarvis  Brown's  type.  Diffi- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     153 

dent,  not  overly  strong  in  physique,  with  little 
knowledge  of  temptations  met  daily  by  many 
men,  of  restricted,  carefully  spent  income — a 
man  dead  in  earnest  about  applying  himself, 
that  he  might  carve  out  some  definite  line  of 
needed  resource — but  of  all  other  types  of  men, 
most  unsuited  for  acts  of  bravado,  "roughing 
it,"  or  meeting  the  temptations  of  liquor 
and,  what  then  existed,  a  woman-equipped 
bar. 

My  remonstrances,  however,  fell  upon  rap- 
idly retreating,  laughter-shaking  forms.  Ches- 
ter flung  back  something  over  his  shoulder 
about  a  "digger"  being  a  deuced  mean  chap  at 
best;  always  taking  advantage  of  men  who  had 
to  honor  nature 's  demands  by  observing  a  little 
rest,  with  his  perpetual  study.  More  ornery, 
in  truth,  than  the  devilish  little  tortoise  that 
found  the  hare  asleep  from  his  brilliant  effort, 
and  so  played  an  unfair  game !  Retorting  thus, 
they  bore  down  upon  the  unsuspecting  and  un- 
fortunate college  digger. 


154     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

When  I  came  out  in  my  rough-weather  clothes 
a  few  moments  later,  I  found  Jarvis  Brown 
sitting,  ghastly  pale  and  silent,  in  the  back  seat 
of  my  auto.  He  was  not  prepared  as  the  rest 
of  us  in  heavy  clothes  for  roughing  it,  but  wore 
a  light-weight  overcoat,  and  a  soft  gray  felt  hat 
that  the  imprints  of  even  an  April  shower 
would  have  sent  to  its  ruin.  His  narrow,  blood- 
less lips  drooped  helplessly  at  the  corners,  but 
his  upright  form  breathed  acceptance — more,  a 
strenuous  attempt  not  to  show  the  "white 
feather,"  on  account  of  the  thought  of  some  one 
else,  I  imagined,  than  out  of  any  care  for  his 
own  standing  with  the  boys.  I  ordered  a 
second  rain-coat  and  oilskin  hat  from  my  well- 
stored  wardrobe  at  once  for  Jarvis,  passing  it 
off  lightly  that  he  had  not  been  long  enough  in 
that  climate  to  know  its  capabilities  for  bitter- 
ness before  morning  light.  I  think  he  would 
have  refused  them  utterly,  but  for  a  passing 
mention  of  one  of  the  boys  that  the  storm  would 
tear  his  clothes  to  tatters.  Then  he  closed  his 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     155 

lips  in  apparent  effort,  and  bowed  a  sullen 
thanks. 

Never  shall  I  forget  the  slightest  detail  of 
that  reckless  drive  through  the  woods.  Every 
demon  seemed  loosed  from  his  chains  for  a 
night  of  fearful  revelry.  The  wind  shrieked  in 
ugly  defiance;  sleet  struck  us  sharply  in  our 
faces;  tree-limbs  snapped;  big  boughs  fell  in 
our  pathway,  and  had  to  be  constantly  removed 
by  sullenly  flickering  lantern-light.  One  by 
one  our  four  autos  gave  out,  stalling  in  the  half- 
frozen  ruts,  or  blowing  a  tire  on  the  sharp  sticks 
in  the  hail-strewn  path.  At  midnight  we  con- 
fessed ourselves  defeated,  so  far  as  reaching 
the  Owl  Inn  by  conveyance  was  concerned.  As 
it  now  lay  but  two  miles  distant,  however,  we 
determined  to  make  the  rest  of  the  way  on  foot ; 
for  chilled  and  bruised  and  miserably  wet,  we 
had  a  greater  hunger  than  ever  for  light  and 
fire  and  warming  drinks. 

Jarvis  Brown  plodded  along  at  my  side,  si- 
lently, but  as  steadily  as  though  track-walking 


156     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

had  been  his  special  choice  in  life.  His  whole 
attitude  expressed  sullenness,  but  he  gave  no 
sound  of  protest.  Indeed  he  never  opened  his 
lips  to  the  boys'  insulting  gibes  about  its  being 
his  " debut,"  his  " first  night  out."  When  I 
spoke,  he  answered,  but  only  in  monosyllables, 
as  though  feeling  the  repulsion  for  our  company 
that  a  prisoner  experiences  with  his  sheriff,  for 
whose  presence  he  has,  naturally,  no  manner  of 
use,  the  more  so  because  he  realizes  thoroughly 
that  rebellion  is  in  vain. 

But  as  we  came  within  sight  of  the  Inn,  Jar- 
vis  made  a  sudden  halt.  The  music,  gay,  soul- 
less, abandoned,  floated  out  to  mingle  with  the 
taunting  fury  of  the  storm.  Huge,  fiercely 
swaying,  owl-shaped  lanterns  sent  their  light  to 
greet  us  through  straining  green  and  red  eyes. 
A  woman's  voice  rang  suddenly  above  the 
hilarious  laughter  within,  and  arose  to  a  shrill- 
ing wail.  It  was  anything  but  a  peaceful  pros- 
pect at  the  moment. 

"It's  here!    I  knew  it  would  come."    Jarvis 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     157 

muttered  bitterly,  but  so  low  that  I,  the  near- 
est to  him,  had  to  strain  for  his  words. 

"You'd  better  come  in,"  I  reasoned  with  him, 
feeling  frightfully  the  strangeness  of  his  utter- 
ance, but  knowing  well  the  boys  would  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  slightest  sign  of  weakening. 
"A  drink  will  warm  you  into  courage  after  this 
walk — you  needn't  overdo  it,  you  know — just  a 
bluff  to  turn  the  attention  of  the  crowd  away 
from  you. ' ' 

His  hesitancy  gave  way  to  a  certain  haste  at 
my  suggestion.  Indeed  he  was  the  first  to 
swing  open  the  heavy  door  and  plunge  into  the 
warm,  gayly  decorated,  smoke-clouded,  music- 
filled  room.  As  he  crossed  the  threshold — this 
young  fellow  whom  I  supposed  was  taking  his 
first  dip  into  the  reckless — he  changed  miracu- 
lously from  the  shrinking,  sullen,  book-crammed 
student  to  a  man  who  evidently  felt  himself  in 
perfectly  familiar  environments.  The  next  in- 
stant, with  a  shrug  of  defiance,  and  a  harsh 
laugh  that  I  still  have  trouble  to  forget,  he 


158     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

plunged  over  to  the  bar,  and  was  ordering  a 
mixed  drink  with  an  aptitude  that  suggested  a 
skill  in  such  matters  for  generations  past!  I 
had  supposed  Jarvis  almost  without  spending- 
money,  but  he  had  a  decent  roll  of  bills  with  him 
that  night ;  and  with  each  drink,  he  became  more 
and  more  liberal,  urging  the  astonished  boys 
time  and  again  to  have  another  "on  him." 
After  he  had  tossed  down  six  or  seven  himself 
he  became  completely  metamorphosed.  It  was 
he — little  Jarvis,  the  digger — that  first  joined 
the  singing-girls  in  chorus  part;  he  that  took 
the  middle  of  the  floor  to  break  into  violent 
laughter-producing  jigs;  and,  at  length,  when 
he  owned  a  thoroughly  appreciative  audience, 
hushed  in  sheer  amazement,  he  that  sang  alone, 
and  most  meritoriously,  a  volley  of  Irish  songs. 
As  I  listened,  even  confused  slightly  as  I  was, 
for  the  first  time  in  my  life,  with  the  too  great 
warmth  and  constant  drinks,  I  knew  beyond  a 
doubt  that  somewhere  in  the  history  of  little 
Jarvis'  family  had  lain  great  culture,  choice  ac- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     159 

complishments,  appreciation  of  the  real  and 
beautiful;  but,  alas,  also  the  other  side — the 
yielding  to  terrible  temptation,  somewhere, 
somehow — then  a  fierce  struggle,  then  a  weaken- 
ing, then  a  fall!  And  the  pitiful  part  of  it  all 
was  that  history  was  clamoring  for  repetition  in 
the  many-sided  nature  of  Jarvis  that  evening. 
The  temptations  had  evidently  been  his  previ- 
ously ;  the  struggle  bravely  and  silently  made  in 
his  constant  digging — digging ;  but  the  fall,  ah,  it 
had  come  that  night  even.  Jarvis  had  realized 
that  it  would,  when  he  wailed  out  his  last  un- 
intelligible protest  before  turning  the  door- 
latch  !  You  know  how  it  is,  Ed,  with  some  in- 
flammable natures,  it  requires  only  the  touch  of 
the  tiniest  flame  to  wipe  out  a  life-struggle. 
We  set  the  fire  burning  for  poor  Jarvis  when 
we  made  him  one  of  our  party,  and,  while  re- 
covering for  the  most  part  ourselves,  left  him 
— shipwrecked ! 

Whether  it  was  the  effect  of  the  fierce  storm 
without  or  the  reacting  tragedy  of  a  soul,  al- 


160     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

most  gained,  losing  grip  to  the  point  of  desper- 
ate bravado,  I  know  not;  but,  Ed,  bedlam  cer- 
tainly reigned  that  night !  Smoke  grew  thicker 
and  thicker,  cigarette-ends  fell  about  us,  feet 
went  up  on  tables,  glasses  clicked  ominously, 
and  fell,  often,  in  fragments  to  the  floor.  Lewd 
songs  began  to  rise  insultingly  upon  the  air; 
canes  struck  viciously  at  lamp-shades ;  even  the 
presence  of  the  barmaids  was  forgotten,  until 
Jarvis,  gay  with  liquor,  leapt  upon  the  stage 
and  seized  the  frightened,  little,  child-girl,  chief- 
singer,  red-bodiced,  with  glittering  straps  over 
soft  bare  shoulders,  in  his  arms.  He  swept  her 
off  the  stage  to  a  table,  where  he  ordered  her 
to  sing — more — faster — faster  still!  And  as 
Jarvis  acted,  so  followed  many  of  our  number 
with  the  maids,  in  spite  of  the  violent  remon- 
strances of  the  bartender,  who  desired  that  all 
things  within  the  rich  Owl  Tavern  should  move 
''nicely,"  and  " discreetly"  on  their  liquor-oiled 
wheels ! 
I  have  told  you  truthfully,  Ed,  that  stimulants 


THE  SIXGLE-CODE  GIRL     161 

never  tempted  me  to  excess.  That  night  even, 
though  my  head  whirled  miserably  with  it  all,  I 
never  lost  tab  upon  myself.  Neither  could  I 
then  depart  from  one  almost  certain  result  of 
refined,  careful  training — I  could  not  include 
woman,  no  matter  how  low  the  type,  in  reckless 
or  notorious  action.  As  the  play  progressed,  I 
moved  into  a  far  corner,  resolved  to  see  it 
through,  but  thoroughly  disgusted  that  I  had 
ever  agreed  to  the  wild  plan  of  coming  at  all. 
My  very  indifference,  however,  made  me  in  a 
way  conspicuous.  I  would  have  reasoned  this 
out  had  my  brain  been  clearer.  The  boys  soon 
marked  my  withdrawal,  and  at  a  few  muttered 
words  from  them,  one  of  the  prettiest  of  the 
girls,  warmed  with  offered  drinks,  plunged  sud- 
denly toward  my  corner,  and  threw  her  arms 
laughingly  about  me,  pressing  her  carmined 
lips  close  to  mine.  If  she  had  not  been  a  woman 
I  would  have  struck  her  senseless  at  my  feet, 
for  every  fiber  in  my  body  swelled  and  burned 
with  abject  loathing  at  the  touch.  As  it  was,  I 


162     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

unwrapped  the  creature's  clinging  arms  with 
none  too  great  gentleness;  but  in  the  act  of 
springing  to  my  feet  and  warding  off  an  in- 
tended more  furious  attack  from  her,  a  gleam  of 
gold  shot  from  an  inner  pocket,  clicked  sharply 
against  a  glass  and  fell  to  the  floor. 

Ed,  it  was  the  locket  taken  from  the  white 
throat  of  little  Evelina's  body,  and  given  to  me 
in  trust,  that  now  lay  on  the  foulsome  Inn  floor. 
At  once  I  came  into  the  full  sense  of  utter  shame 
and  bitterness.  The  woman  saw  the  bright 
gleam,  read  my  fierce  consternation,  and,  with 
a  harsh  laugh,  stooped  and  would  have  laid  her 
hands  on  the  treasure,  had  I  not  struck  her 
grasping  fingers  aside  with  almost  brutal  force. 
The  next  instant  I  had  the  locket  buttoned 
firmly  in  an  inner  pocket,  and  was  making  my 
way,  like  a  furious  spirit,  toward  Jarvis,  who 
was  now  near  the  door.  Tapping  him  on  the 
shoulder,  I  implored  him  to  come  with  me  to 
catch  the  one  early  train  into  town.  He  only 
laughed  scornfully,  however,  and  blear-eyed, 


THE  SIXGLE-CODE  GIRL     163 

trembling  with  excitement,  his  usually  pale 
cheeks  flushed  to  bursting,  his  hair  miserably 
awry,  he  leapt  defiantly  upon  the  table  beside 
the  girl,  whirled  her  about  in  a  foolish  im- 
promptu blending  of  jig  and  two-step.  Thus  I 
left  the  man,  who,  until  this  evening,  had  tried 
so  hard  to  put  up  a  decent  fight! 

As  I  closed  the  door  upon  the  odious  hilarity, 
I  felt  that  I  was  through  forever  with  such  situ- 
ations, and  that  I  possessed  the  will-power  not 
only  to  make  but  keep  this  resolve.  But  an- 
other thought  filled  me  with  utter  misery.  I 
had  broken  the  trust !  I  had  carried  little  Eve- 
lina 's  locket  into  scenes  where  the  property  of 
a  pure-souled  woman  had  no  right  to  be  taken ; 
but  at  least  I  retained  my  honesty.  Before  I 
went  to  bed  that  early  morning  even  the  locket 
had  gone  back.  But  without  a  word  of  explana- 
tion. 

No  more  reckless  outings  with  the  boys.  No 
more  of  women,  good  or  bad!  No  longer  the 
pleasant  home  visits  with  the  Linkersteins ! 


164     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

No  longer  the  brother  relation !  No  longer  any 
honorable  connection  with  the  one  real  boyhood 
home  I  had  enjoyed  to  the  uttermost — the  Buck- 
inghams'.  What,  then,  did  lie  in  store?  With 
burning,  madly  throbbing  temples,  with  de- 
spairing heart,  and  head  bent  low  against  the 
vagaries  of  the  ebbing  storm,  I  plunged  desper- 
ately through  the  limb-strewn  path  that  led  to 
the  little  wooden  station.  But  I  need  not  have 
tried  to  work  it  out ;  for  the  question  that  per- 
sistently puzzled  was  settled  for  me  very 
shortly  and  concisely,  and  that  through  no  aid 
or  consent  of  my  own. 

It  seemed  only  a  few  moments  after  I  had 
dropped,  full-dressed,  on  my  bed,  having  first 
mailed  the  locket,  when  I  felt  myself  being 
roughly  shaken  by  the  shoulder.  Dull  and 
heavy-limbed,  I  arose  to  sitting-posture  to  en- 
counter the  desperately  haggard  face  of  Billy 
Calhoun,  who  roomed  next  door.  "Come  into 
Chester's  room  on  the  jump,"  he  urged. 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     165 

"We  didn't  get  in  till  five;  but  ill  news  travels 
fast,  you  know.  The  faculty  is  fully  posted 
already.  We  are  all  in  a  hell  of  a  fix !" 

' '  Did  you  fire  the  *  Owl '  f "  I  asked,  as  I  donned 
bath-robe  and  Turkish  slippers  preparatory  to 
descending  upon  Chester  in  the  new  role  of 
father-adviser. 

Calhoun  groaned.  Each  of  his  startled  words 
is  clear  in  my  memory.  ' '  No ;  that  would  only 
be  a  Sunday-school  picnic  to  what  did  happen ! 
Going  without  our  chocolate-drops  and  sodas! 
would  help  reconstruct  a  burned  tavern ;  but  our 
names  will  be  obliterated  forever  from  the  list 
for  this!" 

"Murder?"  I  suggested  with  a  rush  of  relief 
that  I  could  prove  an  alibi,  followed  by  a  quick 
consternation  that  Jarvis  could  not. 

' '  Worse  still !  Women  1  Always  the  women ! 
Take  it  from  me  I'll  never  even  pass  one  in  the 
street  again  if  there's  an  alley  within  running 
distance !  But  it's  up  to  Chester  to  explain  the 
whole  confounded  mess.  Hurry  along!" 


166     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

I  found  Chester  sitting  on  the  edge  of  his  bed, 
sipping,  in  sickish  fashion,  a  cup  of  coffee  al- 
most the  consistency  of  mush  and  the  color  of 
blacking.  He  glared  at  me  angrily  beneath 
puffed  red  lids,  as  though  I  had  been  the  chief 
instigator  of  the  whole  plan,  and  the  last  one  to 
leave  the  Inn. 

"Well,"  he  demanded,  kicking  a  chair  in  my 
direction,  "what  are  we  going  to  do?  All  the 
class  honors  hang  over  our  heads;  and  I  bet 
ten  to  one  we'll  never  see  the  light  of  another 
day  here!" 

"Move  along!"  I  suggested  grimly.  "Just 
what  did  we  do." 

Chester  gulped  another  bitter  dose  of  coffee. 
"Well,  I  guess  we  were  a  little — er — confused 
— almost  drunk — before  we  cleared  out  of  the 
Inn.  Anyway,  we  did  the  one  thing  the  faculty 
won't  let  by.  We  tied  the  barkeeper  down,  and 
then — er — one  of  the  boys  went  to  the  beastly 
length  of  strapping  several  barmaids  to  a  tree. 
All  in  the  confusion  of — er — a  little  too  much 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     167 

liquor  you  understand.  Didn't  hurt  them 
either  much — only  a  little  scare.  One  of  them 
fainted,  but  the  barkeeper  broke  loose  some- 
how, and  soon  cut  them  down.  Merely  a  dar- 
ing escapade.  But  we  can  never  hatch  it  out 
on  the  faculty  in  that  light.  They  will  only 
think  of  the  hideousness  of  its  involving  wom- 
anhood. Had  a  note  already  from  old  Link- 
erstein!  Seems  to  think  I'm  to  blame  for  the 
whole  thing!  'Meet  me  in  the  office  at  ten,'  it 
reads.  You'll  go  along,  too,  of  course,  being 
an  early  party  in  the  dealt" 

"Sure,"  I  answered  brusquely,  with  the  dis- 
like I  was  fast  learning  to  feel  for  Chester. 
"But  whom  did  you  put  up  to  the  tying!  I  can 
wager  ten  to  one  that  you  washed  your  hands 
of  the  actual  deed. ' ' 

"Deserter!"  he  sneered.  "You  kept  your 
head  level  enough  to  clear  out  in  time  to  save 
your  own  skin — didn't  you!"  Then  his  man- 
ner changed  entirely  as  he  answered  with  an 
easy  laugh.  "Little  Jarvis  was  the  only  one 


168     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

who  was  game  enough  to  relish  the  act.  He 
tied  the  ropes.  Of  course  others  helped.  I 
don't — just  remember  who.'* 

For  a  moment,  Ed,  I  wanted  to  bring  my 
fingers  around  his  throat  and  choke  him.  I  did 
deliver  myself  in  words.  His  is  the  type  for 
whose  friendship  women  pay  most  miserable 
penalty.  "You  yellow  cur" — I  said — "you 
low-down  yellow  cur,  to  force  little  Jarvis — a 
man  whom  you  knew  had  been  making  a  fight 
for  decent  standing,  at  least — into  that." 

Chester's  white  teeth  showed  unpleasantly. 
Actual  lines  of  dissipation  deepened  their  hold 
about  his  eyes,  though  he  was  but  nineteen  years 
old,  and  of  refined  and  distinguished  family  at 
that. 

"You  will  prove  an  alibi  then?"  he  sneered 
again.  "It  will  lie  between  us  three  I  under- 
stand. Some  devil  has  peached  on  my  start- 
ing the  trip;  and  they  all  know  you  have  the 
money  to  finance  it.  It  seems  the  bartender 
is  too  confused  to  remember  that  you  left  early. 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     169 

He  says  it  was  either  you  or  me  or  Jarvis  that 
committed  the  notorious  act  of  binding  sweet 
womanhood !  He  remembers  seeing  you  mutter 
something  to  him  near  the  door.  And  Zista, 
whom  you  insulted  with  your  pious  indifference, 
is  willing  and  eager  to  swear  to  your  crime !  A 
man  wants  to  be  pleasant  to  a  woman  of  her 
type,  dearie,  if  he  expects  to  prove  a  convenient 
alibi!" 

I  let  Chester's  gibes  pass  as  the  mere  upheav- 
ings  of  a  liquor-swamped  body.  "I  will  prove 
no  alibi,"  I  declared.  "But  it's  not  to  save 
you  that  I  would  go  one  single  inch  out  of  my 
way. ' ' 

"Well,  I  don't  need  your  help,"  he  grinned, 
"after  the  meeting  with  old  Link  is  over;  for, 
take  it  from  me,  the  college  won't  need  any  of 
us  for  a  spell!  The  papers  have  already  sent 
their  talon-clawed  reporters  down,  though  how 
they  get  hold  of  things  so  soon,  heaven  only 
knows!  Even  the  men's  clubs  will  be  on  the 
exclusive  bench,  and  turn  a  cold  shoulder  upon 


170     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

us  for  a  while.  There  is  nothing  for  me  now 
but  to  return  for  refuge  through  society's  ever- 
liberal  doors.  I  did  think  I'd  give  up  the  rose- 
buds permanently;  but  I  can't  refrain  from  sail- 
ing with  the  other  sex  a  while  under  the  mar- 
tyred glow  that  reckless  escapades  seem  to  cast. 
Me  for  women  jurists  every  time!" 


LETTER  XIII 

Orison  to  Aliston.  In  Continuance,  the 
Next  Morning.  Dismissal  and  an  Abrupt 
Decision. 

Looking  backward  upon  the  several  severe 
ordeals  through  which  I  yet  had  to  pass,  Ed, 
I  can  think  of  none  that  possess  the  fierce  gloom 
and  bitter  remorse  that  is  attached  to  this  part 
of  my  report.  I  was  utterly  unable  to  finish  it 
last  evening,  though  my  hand  lingered  over  the 
pages  idly  till  midnight ;  but  the  morning  brings 
renewed  courage.  I  shall  try  to  be  honest. 

Three  days  passed,  after  the  faculty  had  ques- 
tioned us  vainly  concerning  the  chief  partici- 
pants of  the  affair ;  and  not  a  hint  had  been  given 
of  the  outcome.  Chester  assumed  his  old  dar- 
ing, and  expressed  a  regret  that  he  had  wasted 
a  moment  in  surmise;  Jarvis  uttered  no  word, 
but  crept,  heavy -limbed  and  shadow-eyed,  from 

171 


172     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

closely  shut  doors  to  classrooms.  Personally, 
I  felt  only  a  greater  uneasiness  that  the  faculty, 
usually  given  to  quick  action  when  roused,  found 
this  matter  one  of  such  heavy  solution.  I 
longed  for  the  verdict,  and  coming  upon  Pro- 
fessor Linkerstein  in  the  early  afternoon  of 
the  third  day,  seated  on  a  bench  close  to  the 
western  wall  of  the  campus,  I  made  up  my  mind 
to  plunge  at  once  into  the  subject,  come  what 
might. 

It  was  one  of  those  restful  days  when  bluster- 
ing winter  repents  of  its  bitterness,  and,  reach- 
ing out,  twines  quieted  fingers  upon  the  flutter- 
ing garments  of  spring.  A  bed  of  crocuses  had 
sprung  into  marvelous  bloom  near  the  southern 
hedge,  though  patches  of  ice  still  lay  against  the 
northern  walls.  The  big  elms  threw  out  a  stem- 
work  of  swollen  buds.  In  the  brilliant  sunshine 
a  gardener  whistled  a  tune  while  he  cleared 
away  briskly  the  havoc  of  the  recent  storm. 

As  I  lifted  my  cap  and  stopped  directly  in 
front  of  the  professor,  I  experienced  that  feel- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     173 

ing  of  deepest  deference  that  my  father  always 
caused  in  me.  It  seemed  an  honor  to  be  in  his 
presence  at  all.  I  could  not  help  thinking  of 
the  dignity  this  kindly  friend  had  displayed  in 
not  asking  a  word  concerning  my  continued  ab- 
sence from  his  home.  His  was  a  nature  too  big 
either  to  demand  or  yield  unnecessary  explana- 
tions. He  seemed  now  to  understand  perfectly 
my  mute  appeal,  and  with  a  wondrous  tact  he 
moved  a  little  to  the  right,  and  motioned  me  to 
sit  down.  I  glanced  at  him  critically  as  I  ac- 
cepted his  invitation;  then  I  noticed  that  deep 
circles  tinged  his  blue  eyes  into  shadow.  His 
face  was  very  pale. 

"I  was  just  thinking,  Ory,"  he  said  to  me  in 
most  friendly  tones,  "how  much  easier  it  is  to 
clear  away  the  havoc  caused  by  a  raging  of  the 
elements  than  to  heal  the  tiniest  soul-scar;  and 
yet  one  is  so  infinitely  much  more  important 
than  the  other ! '  ' 

I  bowed,  understanding,  but  truly  unable  to 
speak. 


174     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

Professor  Linkerstein  suddenly  turned  upon 
me  eyes  so  clear,  in  spite  of  their  dark  setting, 
that  they  seemed  veritable  windows,  irradiat- 
ing all  truths  worth  while.  "Ory,"  he  said, 
"it  is  impossible  that  the  son  of  your  father 
could  stoop  to  the  lowness  of  involving  woman, 
no  matter  what  the  type,  in  scandal.  Tell  me 
that  you  were  not  one  of  these  who  remained 
even  to  be  an  onlooker  in  the  disgraceful  pro- 
gram of  a  short  time  ago,  and  I  may  yet  be  able 
to  save  you  from  trouble,  and  your  father  from 
utter  heart-break ! ' ' 

Ed,  as  I  review  it  now,  I  know  it  was  mis- 
taken chivalry.  One  accomplishes  little  by 
wearing  the  black  cloth  of  guilt  for  another, 
unless  it  is  a  question  of  the  actual  peace  of  a 
life  coming  in  or  going  out;  but  I  felt  then 
that  only  a  brute  and  a  coward  would  expose 
poor  Jarvis.  I  refused  to  exonerate  myself  at 
his  expense. 

"Is  there  any  hope  for  Jarvis?"  I  ques- 
tioned. "I  am  positive  he  did  not  go  into  the 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     175 

expedition  by  his  own  request  or  even  free- 
will." 

"Jarvis  is  gone,"  Professor  Linkerstein  re- 
turned gravely.  "He  could  not  hold  up  under 
what  he  felt  was  coming.  He  ran  away  this 
morning,  leaving  me  a  note  of  tragic  despair. 
With  him  it  is  not  the  question  of  a  mere  tem- 
porary disgrace,  as  it  may  be  with  the  rest  of 
you.  It  is  a  ruined  life.  Jarvis  has  had  to 
fight  a  taint  in  his  heredity,  and  against  heavy 
odds.  He  has  never  been  strong  physically, 
and  is  the  owner  of  a  high-strung  temperament, 
as  capable  of  great  good,  under  proper  direc- 
tion, as  of  evil.  He  began  college  life  once  be- 
fore with  every  muscle  set,  resolved,  more  for 
his  mother's  sake,  I  think,  than  for  his  own,  to 
wipe  out  his  grinding  craving  for  liquor.  For 
a  time  he  succeeded  famously,  then,  ever  too 
easily  influenced,  he  joined  a  reckless  crowd, 
gambled  his  money  away,  and,  in  deep  remorse, 
took  to  heavy  drink  and  its  gruesome  accom- 
paniment— careless  women.  You  see  heredity 


176     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

does  demand  pay  for  its  carelessly  issued  notes 
many,  many  times.  This,  you  young  gentle- 
men, sons  of  serious-minded,  worthily  acting 
fathers,  and  future  fathers  yourselves  of  a  new 
race,  surely  lost  track  of,  when  you  thought  you 
were  harming  only  yourselves ! ' ' 

"Who  is  Jarvis's  father?"  I  questioned  with 
no  denial  for  the  grave  statement  just  given,  but 
still  owning  a  keen  interest  in  the  unfortunate 
college  digger,  and  remembering  how  he  had 
struck  me  even  in  the  saloon  as  a  young  man  of 
undoubted  fineness  of  heredity. 

"The  Honorable  Horace  Brown — dead  only 
a  year;  his  one  enemy,  self,  in  that  he  never 
seemed  able  to  refrain  from  liquor.  He  was 
the  most  kind-hearted  man  possible,  and  one  of 
the  most  brilliant  pleaders  that  the  legal  world 
has  ever  owned." 

I  remember,  Ed,  I  jumped  to  my  feet  in  in- 
tense excitement.  "Jarvis  the  son  of  the  great 
Horace  Brown!"  I  cried.  "Why,  he's  got  to 
be  saved.  His  father's  inherited  mentality 


THE  SIXGLE-CODE  GIRL     177 

alone  will  show  him  he  must  try  again.    He 
must ! ' ' 

But  Professor  Linkerstein  shook  his  head. 
4 '  Two  fierce  trials  are  about  all  poor  Jarvis  had 
in  his  deal,  Ory.  The  last  stagger  toward  edu- 
cation was  made  simply  to  comfort  his  poor 
mother,  because  he  had  lost  heavily  in  finances, 
and  become  involved  in  some  ugly  scandal,  and 
was  about  to  give  up.  She  begged  and  implored 
for  months,  however,  and,  warm  of  heart  as  his 
father  before  him,  Jarvis  could  not  refuse  her. 
He  came  back  to  the  home  farm,  utterly  ignored 
the  society  of  former  associates,  both  men  and 
women;  and,  dollar  by  dollar,  with  no  small 
sacrifice,  his  mother  and  he  saved  for  this — his 
second  attempt —  It  will  break  the  heart  of  a 
good,  tender,  sweet  little  mother ;  and  Jarvis,  I 
fear,  has  little  hope.  When  I  made  a  final  ap- 
peal to  him  yesterday,  he  laughed  in  the  fear- 
ful, gleeless  way  of  a  soul  that  has  lost  entirely, 
and  knows  it  has,  that  one  great  balancing 
power,  self-respect,  from  lack  of  self-control. 


178     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

And  yet  just  one  interested  classmate,  standing 
out  clearly  as  a  strong  example  of  will-power, 
might  have  cast  the  balance  for  little  Jarvis  on 
the  side  of  victory !  I  was  comforted  all  along 
in  thinking  that  this  example  might  be  you — 
your  heredity  rendering  it  possible." 

Do  you  know  how  it  feels,  Ed,  when  a  big 
man  finds  himself  longing  to  shed  the  weak 
tears  of  a  babe  or  woman!  As  the  professor 
spoke  in  simple  but  heartfelt  words  of  what  all 
this  meant  to  an  aching  parent-heart  and  to 
poor  Jarvis,  I  longed  to  cast  myself  on  the 
ground  and  sob  in  agony.  But  instead  I  sat 
mute,  each  heart-beat  suffocating  me,  while  be- 
fore me,  oddly  enough,  rose  the  memory  of  the 
strongest  painting  of  a  mortal  subject  I  had 
ever  seen.  It  was  the  picture  of  a  simple 
country  mother,  lifting  her  plain,  tear-stained 
face,  full  of  pleading  trust  to  her  son.  "Break- 
ing Home  Ties,"  it  is  called.  You  know  it,  Ed, 
in  all  its  strong  simplicity  and  heart-reaching 
detail  But  it  is  not  the  thought  of  the  hard 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     179 

work  and  sacrifices  and  simple  ways  of  living 
that  her  son  must  meet  in  Ms  journey  into  life 
that  troubles  her — those  they  have  already  met 
patiently  and  cheerfully  together  that  he  might 
finally  depart  for  the  education  that  should  fit 
him  for  forceful  living.  No,  it  is  the  thought  of 
the  companions  he  may  possibly  come  upon 
that  wrings  the  mother's  heart — young  men, 
unused  to  the  vigor  of  self-control — young 
women  so  strangely  neglected  under  parental 
care  that  they  ruin  sons  rather  than  save  them. 
— And  I  reasoned  as  I  watched  the  mental  pic- 
ture, that  we,  in  our  orgies  of  the  stormy  night, 
had  been  just  the  element  the  poor  mother  in 
"Breaking  Home  Ties"  dreaded  most!  Still 
in  my  vigorous  red-corpuscled  manhood  I  re- 
belled against  taking  the  real  blame. 

"Do  you  think,  then,  that  those  that  shut 
themselves  away  from  the  world  and  its  many 
types  of  sin  are  the  strongest  and  most  able  to 
aid  mankind  ? ' '  I  asked  the  professor  almost  de- 
fiantly. 


180     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

"No,  Ory,"  he  answered  so  simply  but  force- 
fully that  I  felt  ready  to  stake  my  issue  on  his 
every  word.  ''In  youth  I  took  much  comfort 
in  the  Biblical  verse:  'To  the  weak  became  I 
as  weak,  that  I  might  gain  the  weak. '  But  one 
night,  when  things  were  getting  pretty  bad,  I 
drew  myself  up  for  honest  reviewal.  Was  it 
really  to  gain  the  weak  that  I  was  plunging  into 
this  or  that,  or  merely  to  satisfy  my  thirst  for 
novelty — for  the  wholly  untried!  After  that 
I  pinned  my  faith  more  firmly  to  the  verse  that 
follows  shortly  afterwards:  'And  every  man 
that  striveth  for  the  mastery  is  temperate  in 
all  things.'  It  is  not  the  natural  craving  to 
learn  just  what  life  is,  and  what  we  must  meet, 
that  seems  wrong  to  me.  It  is  wantonness, 
conscienceless  action — in  other  words,  lack  of 
temperance  and  false  consideration  of  condi- 
tions. But  the  danger  lies  in  going  in  for  full 
investigation,  and  staying  in — shipwrecked;  or, 
if  of  strong  will-power  and  fine  common-sense 
ourselves,  sailing  forth  into  clear  harbors,  leav- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     181 

ing  those,  less  able  to  resist,  who  have  followed 
our  example,  completely  inundated." 

A  college  bell  rang  just  then  in  the  chapel 
belfry,  and  Professor  Linkerstein  arose  quickly, 
holding  out  a  hand. 

4 'The  verdict  is  for  expelling  unless  you  can 
prove  an  alibi  when  it  came  to  the — rougher 
part.  I  regret  this,  Ory,  beyond  any  power  of 
words."  The  man's  voice  really  choked  with 
feeling.  "If  I  could  save  you  the  misery  that 
comes  to  a  man  of  conscience,  and  help  you  and 
your  poor  father — ah  well,  it  is  a  trite  saying, 
but  an  honest  one,  I  would  gladly  give  ten  years 
of  my  life.  But  don't  let  the  notoriety  of  this 
discourage  you  too  much,  Ory.  You  have  the 
will-power  and  the  clean  heredity  that  will  make 
you  eager  for  a  fresh  start.  To  man,  is  merci- 
fully granted  this  privilege.  We  can  not  de- 
pend too  much  upon  these  things  though — can 
we !  And  remember  no  normal  man  exists  that 
does  not,  at  times,  chafe  fiercely  under  self-re- 
striction; still  there  are  many  that  do  not  wish 


182     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

to  take  the  serious  chance  of  losing  self-respect. 
But  you  understand  it  all,  Ory.  God  help  you, 
boy —  Good-by." 

If  I  had  been  permitted,  Ed,  to  keep  the  words 
of  this  big  sympathetic  professor  warm  in  my 
heart,  I  know  that  I  could  throw  down  my  pen 
at  this  point  and  come  to  you,  regretful  of  care- 
lessness, but  not  truly  guilty  of  any  big  wrong; 
so  that  perhaps  you  might  consider  me  entirely 
eligible  for  attempting  to  win  the  love  of  your 
little  sister;  but  honesty  compels  me  to  go  on. 
No  fiercely  raging  winter  storm  could  have 
crushed  out  the  tiniest  snowdrop  more  effec- 
tively than  did  the  words  I  received  a  few  mo- 
ments later  destroy  the  new  incentive  for  most 
worthy  living  that  the  professor  had  put  in  my 
heart.  For  when  I  entered  my  living-room,  my 
father,  unexpected,  unannounced,  turned  slowly 
around  from  the  shadowed  bay-window,  and 
fixed  cold  condemning  eyes  upon  my  face! 

I  can  not  go  into  detail  of  so  intimate  a  time, 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     183 

Ed.  You  would  not  have  it  so.  But  when  I 
left  my  father,  just  a  few  moments  later,  I  was 
older  by  ten  years ;  and,  for  the  time,  my  laugh 
must  have  rung  out  as  recklessly  as  that  of  poor 
Jarvis ;  for  my  father,  calm  and  unflinching  by 
nature,  actually  threw  up  his  hands  to  his  ears 
to  shut  it  out. 

He  spoke  with  the  pitiless  judgment  of  the 
rare  man  who,  by  some  odd  fitting  of  circum- 
stances, has  never  been  tried.  Asking  no  ex- 
planation, permitting  no  possible  theory  that 
any  excuse  existed,  or  that  reports  might  be  ex- 
aggerated, he  hurled  forth,  out  of  an  uncompre- 
hending, rigidly  chaste  soul,  one  bitter  accusa- 
tion after  another.  My  actions,  I  was  told, 
were  disgraceful,  monstrous,  notoriously  vul- 
gar, obnoxious,  odiously  conceived!  At  last  I 
found  out  why  I  had  never  been  able  to  strike 
a  responsive  chord  in  my  father's  heart.  He 
explained  most  carefully.  My  little  mother  had 
never  been  well  since  my  birth.  Indeed  her 
death  was  due  to  the  heart-strain  she  endured 


184     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

that  I,  the  unworthy  son  of  as  near  a  woman- 
angel  as  God  ever  fashioned  for  earth,  might 
spring  into  unneeded  existence ;  and,  later,  drag 
her  fair  name,  and  that  of  a  respected  and  dis- 
tinguished family,  to  the  earth  by  my  notorious 
freedom  of  living.  There  was  certainly  no 
mincing  of  matters,  no  chance  offered  to  inter- 
rupt, had  I  cared  to  do  so.  I  was  given  finally 
to  understand  that  I  had  never  been  wanted, 
surely  not  needed ;  and  that  I  had  no  real  right 
to  a  decent  name.  However  I  was  assured  that, 
to  meet  the  needs  of  my  gross  nature,  I  could 
always  draw  a  certain  amount  on  his  bank,  in 
addition  to  the  sum  left  me  by  my  poor  mother. 
Having  settled  this  financial  obligation,  my 
father  intimated  that  he  had  probably  reached 
and  touched  the  one  interest  I  was  capable  of 
regarding  seriously. 

Then,  Ed,  I  stooped  to  the  fearful  irrelevance 
and  irreverence  of  a  laugh.  I  laughed  long  and 
harshly  and  striking  a  match,  lighted  a  cigarette 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     185 

and  puffed  it  with  forced  gayety.  I  was  at  the 
white-heat  calm  of  rage.  A  man  can  stand 
financial  restrictions,  fierce  hardships — any- 
thing— better  than  the  intimation  that  he  is 
possessing  unworthily  a  name  he  has  had  no 
hand  in  obtaining.  But,  Ed,  even  though  many 
hours  of  better  understanding  between  my 
parent  and  myself  were  mercifully  granted  me 
later  on,  I  shall  never  cease  to  regret  bitterly 
the  stand  I  took  then  with  my  poor,  proud,  dis- 
tracted father. 

"Don't  trouble  yourself  about  speaking  to 
your  banker,"  I  sneered  with  a  coldness  equal 
to  his  own.  "If  you  had  told  me  a  little  of  the 
world,  or  shown  a  little  decent  interest  ever  in 
my  movements,  I  might  have  felt  the  grateful 
dutiful  spirit.  But  I  do  not  want  your  money 
or  your  name.  It  has  not  helped  me  through 
trouble  any  better  than  as  though  I  had  been 
any  one  of  the  common  herd.  As  for  my 
mother's  income,  I  will  no  longer  dishonor  her 


186     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

by  using  it.  But  when  you  blame  me  for  her 
going  or  for  my  coming  at  all ;  when  you  blame 
me  for  finding  out  what  every  man  must  know 
for  himself,  if  he  has  no  interested  parent  to 
warn  or  explain,  I  confess  you  take  a  step  be- 
yond my  feeble  comprehension.  I  can  only 
make  amends  for  the  great  evil  of  living,  how- 
ever, by  choosing  another  name.  This  I  will 
surely  do!" 

My  father  was  already  deeply  regretful ;  for, 
Ed,  a  more  just  man  never  lived,  when  once  a 
truth  was  borne  in.  I  could  see  he  was  even 
then  struggling  fiercely  to  ameliorate  his  worst 
accusations;  but  I  gave  him  no  chance. 

"And  take  it  from  me,  sir,"  I  cried  as  I 
seized  my  cap  and  sprang  toward  the  door, 
every  nerve  tingling  fiercely,  "if  you  had  ever 
shown  the  decent  interest  in  me  that  you  gave 
to  one  of  those  worthless  books  in  your  li- 
brary, you  might  have  saved  me  from  many 
crimes,  where  the  luster  of  your  unimpeachable 
name  was  of  no  value  at  all." 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     187 

On  the  doorstep  I  met  darkey  Joe,  a  young  lad 
of  twenty  whom  Chester  and  I  employed  to- 
gether as  our  general  aid. 

"Why,  Mistah  Ory,"  he  exclaimed,  "whar- 
abouts  am  yer  skitin't" 

"To  Chicago,"  I  answered  under  a  sudden 
inspiration  to  drown  myself  from  former  as- 
sociations as  thoroughly  as  possible.  "Have 
my  trunk  ready  right  away,  and  don't  breathe 
a  word,  if  you  value  your  skull. ' ' 

"But  I  goes,  too?"  questioned  the  negro 
plaintively.  "I  lubs  the  groun'  Chicagy  sets 
on." 

"You  belong  to  Chester,"  I  announced 
shortly. 

"No,  sah,  there  is  some  mistake  'bout  dat, 
Mistah  Ory!  My  feelin's  never  did  'meliorate 
with  dat  Mistah  Chester !  Please  let  me  go ! " 

I  confess  even  the  thought  of  Joe's  faithful 
company  proved  a  solace  to  me  in  my  utter 
desolation.  "All  right,  suit  yourself,"  I  an- 
swered gloomily.  "But  it's  a  purseless  man 


188     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

you  are  asking  to  serve  now,  not  an  heir  to  lux- 
uries. I  have  but  a  hundred  dollars  in  cash; 
and  no  special  line  of  support  in  view." 

Joe  lifted  his  cap  with  respectful  eagerness. 
"Yas,  sah.  Them's  jes'  the  kine  of  gentl'men 
I  likes  to  sarve  bes'I  An'  there  ain't  no  pov- 
erty goin'  to  git  hoi'  of  neither  of  us,  Mistah 
Ory.  Why,  I  am  a  gradluite  in  the  shoe-shinin', 
an'  step-lightly-roun'-the-table  bizness.  What's 
the  use  of  yer  wastin'  time  with  them  support- 
professions  till  yer  get  good  an'  ready!  Long 
as  I  am  on  deck,  I'll  show  yer  how  to  make 
Chicagy  grin  at  our  comin'  from  the  start." 

"Lead  the  way,"  I  muttered  gloomily.  "I'd 
see  myself  dead  before  I  would  take  help  from 
white  or — or  tinted — thanking  you  just  the 
same.  But  if  there  is  a  grin,  or  even  the  ab- 
sence of  heavy  frowns,  for  us  any  place,  I  will 
traipse  the  whole  world  around  till  I  find  it." 


LETTER  XIV 

Edward  Clifton  Aliston  to  His  Aunt,  Mrs. 
Thompson.  In  Which  He  Asks  Speedy 
Help.  At  His  Home  Desk.  November 
Eighth. 

DEAE  ERNESTINE: 

When  you  suggested  that  I  might  event- 
ually need  your  help  in  settling  questions  re- 
garding Mildred,  I  smiled  involuntarily;  for 
when  have  we  ever  failed  to  petition  for  your 
clear-headed  and  heartfelt  solutions!  But  I 
did  not  quite  realize  myself,  then,  how  desperate 
and  speedy  would  be  my  appeal. 

Ernestine,  when  I  wrote  you  that  Mildred 
was  heart-free,  I  made  the  mistake  concerning 
a  subject  that  man  seems  ever  prone  to  handle 
clumsily.  It  is  this — Mildred  is  no  longer  a 
care-free,  little  girl,  but  a  woman,  deeply  in  love ! 

189 


190     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

And  with  Orison  Holland.  It  has  been  but 
three  days  over  a  fortnight,  Ernestine,  since 
Orison  left  on  a  peculiar  errand,  known  by  me, 
but  entirely  incomprehensible  to  Mildred.  An 
errand  I  am  under  promise  not  to  explain  to 
her  until  the  time  is  ripe.  But  if  you  could 
only  have  seen  my  little  sister  as  I  came  upon 
her  this  evening,  I  am  sure  you  would  share 
with  me  a  keenly  awakened  alarm. 

She  was  standing  in  the  bay-window  of  our 
living-room,  overlooking  that  sliver  of  shimmer- 
ing lake,  just  visible  through  Carter's  bunch  of 
heavy  oaks.  When  I  entered,  she  turned,  and 
I  could  scarcely  believe  for  the  moment  that  it 
was  Mildred's  face.  So  lost  was  every  vestige 
of  her  brilliant  coloring,  so  sorrowing  her  eyes, 
and  yet  so  full  of  the  dignity  of  a  suffering 
woman,  who  battles  in  vain  for  some  solution. 
By  these  signs,  and  her  unusual  silence,  I  real- 
ized miserably  that  the  happy  little  girl-sister 
of  but  a  few  hours  ago  had  left  me  in  a  breath ! 

For  a  time  she  refused  me  the  confidence — 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     191 

the  only  one,  I  am  confident,  withheld  of  her 
sweet,  pure  life ;  then  as  I  drew  her  gently  down 
beside  me  on  the  couch,  she  gave  way  to  the 
first  hysteria  in  my  memory,  and  sobbed  out  her 
trouble  on  my  shoulder. 

She  had  lost  all  dignity,  all  womanhood! 
Thus  her  fierce  little  confession  ran;  she  was 
deeply,  irretrievably  in  love  with  Orison.  A 
man  who  cared  for  her  so  little  that  he  could 
go  as  easily  as  he  came  1  A  man  who  had  given 
her  constant  proofs  of  more  than  real  friend- 
ship, and  yet  had  forgotten  her  very  existence 
in  a  fortnight  in  some  new  field! 

It  was  very  difficult,  Ernestine,  to  listen  to 
this  grief  and  not  give  the  whole  explanation — 
that  Ory  loved  her  as  truly  as  she  did  him ;  but 
was  proving  his  right  to  come  into  her  presence, 
giving  the  cleanliness  of  record  that  he  must 
surely  expect  to  receive.  As  it  was,  I  comforted 
her  with  the  news  that  Orison  had  been  called 
away  on  an  errand  of  great  importance,  and 
would,  no  doubt,  explain  everything  to  her  at 


192     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

his  earliest  opportunity.  Also  I  went  to  the 
unwise  length  of  assuring  her  that  Orison 
valued  her  friendship  very  highly  indeed. 
That  much  he  had  told  me. 

"But  are  you  sure,  little  sister,"  I  questioned 
with  the  frankness  that  has  always  existed  in 
exquisite  form  between  us,  on  account  of  our 
difference  in  age  and  the  early  loss  of  our 
mother,  "that  if  you  do  finally  decide  that  Ori- 
son is  the  one  you  love,  and  he  loves  you,  that 
you  can  also  give  to  him  your  fullest  respect  as 
a  man  worthy  to  represent  a  future  generation, 
if  God  so  willed  it — a  generation  whose  strength 
of  morals  and  physique,  we  both  agree,  rest 
necessarily,  in  a  great  measure,  upon  what  the 
parents  have  been  and  are.  This  I  ask  because 
our  mother  wished  it  so,  not  from  any  grandeur 
of  soul  of  my  own  that  sets  me  aloof  from  the 
erring. ' ' 

"Oh,  so  sure!"  she  answered,  and  I  confess 
my  heart  leapt  with  a  hungry  pain  at  the  look 
of  utter  tenderness  for  Orison  in  her  eyes. 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     193 

"That  is  just  it!  That  is  just  why  I  love  Ory! 
I  am  so  glad  you  have  taught  me  that  way,  my 
brother;  so  thankful  that  dear  mother  left  the 
message  she  did  about  that  very  matter ;  for  this 
above  everything  else  first  led  me  to  love 
Frank.  He  is  so  gentle,  yet  so  firm,  so  cour- 
teous, so  true,  so  pure,  so  full  of  poise  and  self- 
control.  He  seems  so  much  like  you,  Teddy,  in 
splendid  Bigness!  I  am  very,  very  sure  he 
never  yielded  an  instant  to  any  weakness  or 
excess.  I  have  thought  of  all  this  many  times ; 
for  you  and  the  word  from  mother  have  proven 
to  me  that  it  is  not  indelicate  but  false  modesty 
amounting  to  crime,  not  to  weigh  the  possible 
results  of  a  union,  until  after  it  is  too  late.  I 
must  be  able  to  tell  my  children  truthfully  that 
they  have  every  rightful  reason  to  be  proud  of 
their  father;  every  hereditary  inspiration  for 
making  their  own  lives  worth  while !" 

"And  yet,  if  it  should  be  proven  that  even 
Orison  must  foist  a  bit  to  lay  finest  claims  upon 
the  possibility  of  finest  progeny!"  I  chanced 


194     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

the  question,  though  sure  of  her  staunchness  of 
views  concerning  the  one  standard  for  both 
man  and  woman. 

"Then  I  could  not  marry  even  him!"  She 
covered  her  eyes  with  a  little  shiver.  "No  mat- 
ter whom  I  wed,  I  must  be  able  to  handle  every 
weakness,  great  or  small,  in  case  of  being  blessed 
with  little  ones,  by  saying:  'The  trouble  is  in 
yourself,  dear  child.  We  will  try  to  master  it 
quickly;  for,  thank  God,  there  is  no  possible 
hereditary  excuse  why  you  can't  grow  up  and 
stand  forth  among  men — iron-bodied  and  pure- 
souled!'  Suddenly  she  dropped  her  hands 
from  her  eyes  with  a  comfortable  laugh.  ' '  But 
what  a  waste  of  words — what  nonsensical  sur- 
mises, of  this  and  that !  As  if  Orison  ever  has 
been,  could  or  would  be  anything  but  a  soul  of 
admirable  temperance  and  control!  Weakness 
shows  in  a  man's  eyes,  in  the  curve  of  his  lips, 
in  his  evasive  tones.  The  lines  of  Ory's  fea- 
tures are  made  of  iron  bands,  blended  with  sun- 
shine. He  never  evades,  but  meets  one  direct." 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     195 

Ernestine,  the  enclosed  package  of  letters  will 
explain  the  nature  of  Orison's  errand.  I  also 
send  his  dispatch,  received  but  an  hour  ago  in 
answer  to  one  of  mine,  of  eager  desire  that  you 
become  a  jurist  in  his  case.  Oh,  dear  Tante, 
it  will  mean  everything  to  Mildred  and  Orison. 
Already  I  feel  myself  wavering  cowardly.  I 
find  myself  longing,  like  the  great  army  of  on- 
lookers, to  wait  a  while  before  taking  up  so  un- 
comfortable a  subject  as  the  one  standard  for 
both  sexes.  I  want  to  persuade  myself  vigor- 
ously that  just  as  a  young  colt  must  kick  its 
heels  before  succumbing  to  the  binding  power 
of  the  shafts  and  harness,  so  a  young  man 
should  beat  about  a  while  in  a  field  of  wild-oats, 
that  he  may  better  understand  the  value  of  a 
rich  harvest  of  wheat.  There  is  a  deeper  rea- 
son than  mere  theory  why  I  am  compelled  to 
reason  thus. 

But,  Ernestine,  help  me  to  be  true  to  mother, 
true  to  Mildred,  yes,  true  to  the  world  and  my 
own  best  conceptions ;  though  not,  by  any  means, 


196     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

in  accordance  with  my  own  early  actions.  It 
is  not  the  case  we  must  consider,  but  the  prin- 
ciple. How,  in  reason,  can  one  side  be  respon- 
sible for  all  the  weaknesses  of  heredity — the 
other  side,  no  matter  how  careless,  utterly  ir- 
responsible? It  is  not,  and  we  know  it!  The 
children  of  the  tenements,  hollow-eyed,  crying 
out  against  life  almost  before  the  conception  of 
breathing  is  grasped,  know  it  too.  The  crip- 
pled, the  anaemic,  the  delinquent  children  of 
the  Avenues  know  it  as  well.  The  world  feels 
it  frightfully  in  the  weak  battlings  of  her  sinning 
and  irresolute  and  moral-drugged  sons  and 
daughters — men  and  women  who  might  have  ac- 
complished so  much,  had  there  been  a  little  more 
justice  in  birth.  For,  you  know  well,  that 
abused  notes  in  nature  have  a  way  of  lying  low 
for  a  time,  only  to  send  in  more  furious  demand- 
claims  a  little  later  on — often  when  the  real 
debtor  has  passed  out  of  life  or  danger  of  cap- 
ture. I  wish  I  did  not  have  to  believe  this. 
But  I  do! 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     197 

I  hear  your  exclamation,  Ernestine,  and  an- 
swer quickly:  No!  I  would  not  have  a  man 
marry  down  for  a  solution,  nor  connect  his  name 
with  a  weakling  simply  because  he  has  had 
times  of  miserable  lack  of  self-control.  But  I 
would  have  him  know  that  he  must  have  the 
right  to  ask  the  woman  of  highest  moral  stand- 
ard, with  whom,  should  she  accept  him,  he  must 
stand  responsible  for  a  possible  new  generation ! 
Sentiment  expects  more  of  the  true  and  beauti- 
ful in  woman,  I  know ;  but  the  time  seems  come 
when  struggling  woman  is  calling  out  for  jus- 
tice rather  than  sentiment,  for  honest  investiga- 
tion as  to  the  true  causes  of  hereditary  evils, 
rather  than  insistent  and  unscrupulous  blame. 

God  helping  me,  I  will  urge  Mildred  to  stand 
with  me  for  this  principle;  and  you,  too,  Er- 
nestine, are  just.  I  know  you  will  fight  with  us 
for  this  cause,  no  matter  how  bitter  the  per- 
sonal pain. 

Ever  your  loving  nephew. ED. 


LETTER  XV 

Mrs.  William  Howard  Thompson  to  Alis- 
ton.  By  Night-Letter.  November  Tenth. 

Teddy — oh  Ted!  Yes,  of  course,  I  will  try 
to  help ;  though  already  it  is  bitterly  hard  to  for- 
get Mildred  and  Ory  and  ourselves  for  the  sake 
of  principle.  I  think  that  is  one  reason  why  so 
many  splendid  impulses  go  down  untried — be- 
cause scarcely  a  question  exists,  but  that,  in  set- 
tling it  honestly,  the  happiness  or  comfort  of 
some  one  near  and  dear  is  involved.  Why,  we 
must  not  let  our  sweet  little  Mildred,  whom  I 
know  will  never  believe  differently  from  you, 
break  her  heart.  And  poor  Ory !  I  have  read 
his  bravely  honest  letters  already,  and  cried 
over  them  bitterly.  But  don't  you  see — oh, 
surely  you  do — he  has  really  done  nothing  dis- 

198 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     199 

reputable  at  all  as  yet.  Even  the  odious  night 
at  Owl  Inn  was  all  the  drift  of  circumstances. 
He  did  not  realize  how  loathsome  it  would  be. 
In  reality  he  played  no  gross  part,  but  thought 
so  from  owning  a  finely  sensitive  conscience. 
Just  as  you  do,  Teddy  dear.  I  confess  I  have 
to  smile  when  you  hint  now  and  then  of  a  pos- 
sible frivolity  of  your  own  youth.  As  if  you 
ever  could  have  been  really  indiscreet — you 
splendid,  big-hearted  man!  He  even  left  be- 
fore the  end,  with  pitiful  penitence  for  the  abuse 
of  the  trust  that  the  possession  of  the  little 
locket  laid  upon  him. —  But  there,  I  must 
forget  the  person  and  remember  the  question: 
Whether  Ory  has  as  much  right  to  Mildred's 
love  as  she  has  to  his.  Oh,  Teddy,  I  pray  our 
little  boat  may  not  be  shipwrecked  on  the  shoals 
of  fanaticism;  for  it  all  seems  such  shadowy, 
such  frightfully  erratic  waters  with  such  ter- 
rors of  possibilities !  Still  we  will — we  must — 
be  true.  We  will  land  in  the  Harbor  of  Honest 
Decision,  or  at  least,  if  we  sink  from  weakness 


200     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

of  human  judgment,  go  down  trying  to  make  it 
with  all  our  might. 
I  shall  write  you  every  day  now.     Send  Ory's 

letters  as  fast  as  you  possibly  can. YOUB 

DEEPLY  SYMPATHETIC  AUNT. 


LETTER  XVI 

Fifth  Report  from  Orison  to  Aliston. 
Concerning  the  Girl  in  the  Land  of  Shadow. 
Ellison  Grove,  November  Twelfth. 

DEAE  ED: 

Chicago  did  not  suffer  the  slightest  twitch- 
ing of  its  visual  muscles — for  me.  It  did  for 
Joe!  I  walked  the  streets  for  a  week,  first 
asserting  that  I  could  fill  almost  any  position 
capably ;  then,  as  my  room-rent,  at  three  dollars 
and  a  half  a  day,  began  mounting  up  frightfully, 
I  actually  appealed  for  a  chance  to  work.  My 
attempt  to  prove  that  I  had  shown  a  decent  intel- 
ligence in  college  only  caused  smiles.  Why  had 
I  left  before  the  term  was  out,  was  a  constant 
and  natural  question.  I  learned  to  screen  my 

collegiate  wisdom  as  carefully  as  a  murderer 

201 


202     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

would  his  spotted  knife.  But  my  lack  of  prep- 
aration along  any  special  line,  my  inability  to 
supply  references,  even  the  awkward  manner  in 
which  I  fumbled  my  newly  considered  name  of 
Curtis — all  these  facts  went  woefully  against 
me.  But  not  so  for  Joe.  Perhaps  Chicago 
recognized  the  uselessness  of  inquiring  for  his 
bona-fide  references;  perhaps  it  was  in  too 
strenuous  a  rush  to  be  willing  to  listen  to  the 
list  of  his  former  working  places ;  or,  more  than 
anything  else,  no  doubt,  the  big  city  welcomed 
the  suave,  indolently  graceful  deference  that  in- 
variably comes  when  there  is  a  blending  of  the 
Ethiopian  blood  with  a  frequent  touch  of  white 
— what  Joe  proudly  called,  "a  drap  of  de  real 
thing." 

At  any  rate,  before  the  first  day  was  over, 
Joe  had  an  opportunity  to  play  in  a  colored 
band,  to  be  waiter  at  a  swell  cafe  on  Michigan 
Boulevard,  or  to  take  charge  of  a  glittering 
shoe-shining  concern,  where  mirrors,  set  in 
highly  polished  brass  frames,  formed  the  whole 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     203 

ceiling  and  walls — and  where  "the  patronage 
of  ladies"  was  especially  solicited. 

Joe,  choosing  from  hereditary  instinct,  the 
pleasing  work  of  gliding,  white-garbed  and  re- 
splendent, in  the  midst  of  shaded  electroliers, 
pleasantly  flattering  mirrors,  gorgeously  de- 
signed furniture,  and  costly  silken  garments, 
that  must  ever  be  stepped  around  deferentially, 
had  his  final  goal  fixed  upon  nothing  short  of  a 
white-stone,  lake-front  cafe  of  his  very  own.  I, 
watching  the  ceaseless  line  of  luxurious  limou- 
sines, autos  and  taxi-cabs  roll  past  my  hotel- 
window,  fronting  on  Michigan  Boulevard,  felt 
tightening  about  me  the  grip  of  stuffy  walls, 
and  cramped  unfamiliar  neighborhoods — houses 
where  front-stairs  jumped  at  one  immediately 
upon  entering  the  door,  showing  a  frazzle  of 
cheap  faded  carpet,  and  holding  even  in  their 
bare  threads  hideous  odors,  reminiscent  of  pre- 
cabbage  and  unsunned  days. 

It  all  came,  too !  Not  at  a  leap ;  for  I  would 
accept  none  of  these  conditions  until  the  fact 


204     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

was  borne  well  upon  me  that  I  must,  or  starve ! 
Or,  worse,  consider  the  one  hideous  alternative 
of  borrowing  from  Joe.  I  had  found  work  at 
last,  after  a  search  of  a  fortnight, — making 
entry-receipts  in  a  big  wholesale  house!  My 
salary  was  barely  sufficient  to  meet  the  stringent 
needs  of  food,  rental,  and  respectable  appear- 
ance. Naturally,  I  knew  nothing  of  economy. 
I  was  fairly  dazed  at  the  small  expansive  power 
of  a  dollar.  Often  the  end  of  the  month  found 
me  walking  the  six  miles  to  my  home,  because 
I  did  not  have  even  the  price  of  the  car-fare 
left! 

For  a  time  I  kept  in  touch  with  Joe,  who, 
loyal  fellow  that  he  was,  insisted  upon  dropping 
into  my  dingy  quarters  several  evenings  a  week, 
just  to  touch  up  my  shoes,  and  give  my  clothes 
a  little  freshening.  When  one  day,  however,  he 
surreptitiously  replaced  a  pair  of  wearing 
patent  leathers  with  a  pair  of  costly  new  ones, 
I  could  bear  the  thought  of  his  witnessing  my 
humiliation  no  longer.  That  very  evening  I 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     205 

paid  my  rent  a  week  in  advance  and  moved  into 
even  more  remote  quarters,  where  in  the  flotsam 
of  human  beings  that  Chicago  must  ever  bear 
upon  her  laden  bosom,  I  felt  sure  my  identity 
would  be  completely  lost. 

For  a  time,  unable  to  concentrate  my  mind  on 
reading  or  to  persuade  myself  to  mingle  at  all 
with  my  co-workers  in  the  department-store,  who 
were  mostly  of  foreign  element,  and  yet  craving 
human  companionship,  I  endured  myself  of 
evenings  by  lounging  in  luxurious  chairs  of  big 
hotel  lobbies,  watching  the  grace  and  light  and 
sway  of  costly  gowns  and  studied  movements, 
all  the  time  under  the  dreadful  fear  of  being 
recognized,  but  with  the  vain  hope  of  finding 
one  soul  in  conditions  as  miserably  complicated 
as  my  own.  When,  however,  an  unusually 
pretty  young  woman  turned  a  sudden  glance  of 
pity  upon  me  one  evening,  I  realized  more 
fiercely  than  ever  how  illy  dressed  I  was  becom- 
ing. In  all  bitterness  of  spirit  I  made  a  hasty 
retreat  back  to  my  humble  quarters,  with  a 


206     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

wildly  muttered  oath  to  venture  no  longer  out- 
side the  sordid  line  of  waifdom  and  failure. 

It  was  with  this  resolve,  growing  ever  more 
rankly  fierce  in  my  heart,  that  I  set  out  one  rainy 
night  in  late  spring,  determined  not  to  return 
home  until  I  had  found  the  companionship  of 
some  one,  no  matter  in  what  walk  in  life,  who 
was  possible  as  an  acquaintance,  and  as  miser- 
able as  myself. 

It  was  a  fierce  night  for  pedestrians.  A  cold 
lake  wind,  holding  full  sway,  cut  into  even  a 
most  sturdy  man's  last  drop  of  blood  and  tissue. 
A  spiteful  rain  fell  only  in  slaps  and  gusts, 
when  it  could  get  the  best  chance  at  the  eyes 
or  back  of  the  neck.  For  once  the  narrow  side- 
walks were  utterly  clear  of  sprawling  babies 
and  perpetually  shawled  women.  But  this  only 
added  to  the  dismal  tone  of  the  night.  All  I 
seemed  to  want  now  was  to  get  out  of  the  utter 
loneliness  into  warmth,  light,  human  sounds  and 
touch!  For  I  reasoned  that  if  I  did  not  find 
some  one  soon  to  direct  my  attention  from  my- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     207 

self  I  would  quickly  lose  my  reason,  and  be  sim- 
ply another  name  on  the  long  list  of  falterers 
that  chose  to  plunge  from  the  drawbridge  on 
Twenty-second  Street,  or  other  equally  acces- 
sible places,  to  the  troubled  waters  below. 

At  Murphy's  " parlor-restaurant,"  where 
many  lamps  flooded  the  blackened  sidewalk  with 
a  gaudy  light  of  invitation,  I  turned  in  gladly. 
There  the  Girl  in  the  Land  of  Shadow  was  wait- 
ing for  me — perhaps  not  exactly  knowing  my 
form,  but  yearning  for  a  soul  in  my  desperate 
condition  of  loneliness,  a  man  nursing  a  mis- 
ery, not  identical  with,  but  as  poignant  as  her 
own. 

She  was  very  young,  perhaps  eighteen;  her 
eyes  were  big  and  black  and  lustrous,  showing, 
I  thought,  a  touch  of  French  blood,  but  too  di- 
rect in  their  desperate  appeal.  Her  cheeks  were 
still  firm  and  pretty  in  their  soft  texture,  in 
spite  of  the  high  touch  of  borrowed  coloring.  It 
was  evident  that  this  poor  little  girl  had  been 
but  a  very  short  time  at  the  mercy  of  the  streets. 


208     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

At  first  I  did  not  let  her  see  that  I  was  notic- 
ing her.  I  took  my  seat  in  a  corner  at  a  dingy 
table,  where  the  slovenly  captain  of  a  once-popu- 
lar steamer  snored  in  drunken  sleep,  his  bulgy 
head  bent  far  over  his  chest.  A  woman  of  forty 
or  more,  a  veritable  painted  hag,  was  passing 
coarse  jokes  with  the  "Wizard"  of  a  near-by 
nickelodeon,  at  a  table  just  a  few  feet  away; 
while  on  a  rough  wooden  bench,  a  fiercely 
repellent,  pock-marked  man  pillowed  the  head 
of  a  drug-sodden  woman  ignominiously  in  his 
arms.  You  know,  Ed,  of  the  constant  rush  of 
young  college-men  into  these  scenes  of  degrada- 
tion that  they  may  find  what  they  claim  is  real 
Life.  Life !  It  seemed  rather  to  me,  now,  the 
awful  evidence  of  death-in-life — soul-mortifica- 
tion, such  as  the  poor  leper  must  experience  as 
he  sees  his  flesh  drop  away  inch  by  inch  and 
knows  what  the  outcome  must  be.  I  confess  I 
trembled  with  abject  horror  and  fear.  I 
clutched  at  the  rude  table  before  me,  attempting 
to  rise  and  to  plunge  out  into  the  chill  and  the 


THE  SIXGLE-CODE  GIRL     209 

dark;  but  my  fingers  grew  numb  and  my  knees 
swayed  oddly  under  me.  Then  as  the  rasping 
orchestra  stopped  short  to  give  the  ''dancing- 
lady"  a  chance  for  a  drink,  I  sank  back  in  my 
chair,  ashamed  of  my  real  panic.  After  all 
there  was  light  here,  and  warmth — and  souls 
that  were  even  more  miserable  than  myself. 
Suddenly,  by  one  of  those  odd  undulations  of 
wave-tissues  that  connect  thought-matter,  seem- 
ingly as  hopelessly  estranged  as  two  parallel 
lines,  my  commencement-day  resolve  rushed 
over  my  mind.  I  had  sworn  to  find  happiness 
— the  elusive  treasure  that  sage  men  had  failed 
to  catch!  And,  with  only  two  years  interven- 
ing, my  resolve  had  ended  in  this !  "With  a  low, 
almost  unbalanced,  laugh  that  made  even  the 
drunken  captain  open  his  swollen  lids  for  a 
blinking  moment,  I  lit  a  cigarette  and  ordered  a 
drink. 

Just  as  I  had  begun  to  feel  warm  and  more 
hopeful,  I  noticed  that  one  of  the  cheap  fiddlers 
had  sidled  off  the  platform  and  was  making  his 


210     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

grinning  way  toward  the  Girl  in  the  Land  of 
Shadow.  Instantly  I  resented  it  with  fiercest 
indignation.  I  do  not  know  yet  why  I  felt  it 
quite  so  strongly,  save  that  she  seemed  such  a 
young,  foolishly  straying  woman  soul,  pitifully 
unable  to  protect  herself  from  bitter  conse- 
quences, in  spite  of  her  attempted  bravado. 

I  rose  quickly,  and  having  the  advantage  of 
being  even  of  head,  made  my  longer  distance 
first.  "Remember  I  have  engaged  your  entire 
evening,"  I  said  boldly,  in  a  voice  that  the  ap- 
proaching fiddler  could  not  fail  to  hear.  As  I 
bent  over  her,  with  an  air  of  temporary  pro- 
prietorship, the  girl  lifted  surprised  and  grate- 
ful eyes.  For  she  seemed  to  see  in  me  what 
she  had  evidently  met  very  seldom  in  this  hide- 
ous life — a  man  bearing  the  unmistakable  marks 
of  a  gentleman  by  birth,  who  was  unexpectedly 
interested  in  her  to  the  extent,  at  least,  of  offer- 
ing protection  from  a  still  worse  situation. 

"Oh,  thank  you,"  she  breathed  low,  as  the 
liquor-befogged  musician  turned  away  with  a 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     211 

sheepish  grin.  Then  I  noticed  that  her  eyes  fell 
at  once  with  actual  longing  upon  the  thumb- 
marked  menu-card.  And  I  knew  instinctively 
that  this  little  girl  had  gone  supperless  for 
that  night.  Immediately  I  beckoned  a  dingily 
clad  waiter  and  ordered  sandwiches  and 
beer. 

When  cold  and  the  awful  physical  gnawing 
had  been  alleviated  for  the  girl  by  means  of  food 
and  drink,  I  bent  nearer  her;  for  already  my 
soul  was  captive  with  pity  for  her,  and  I  felt 
tingling  through  my  own  being  the  presentiment 
that  here  was  a  companionship  that  I  would 
have  scorned  almost  brutally  a  few  months  back, 
but  which,  strangely,  strangely,  I  almost  wel- 
comed now.  *  *  Little  girl, ' '  I  invited ;  ' '  let 's  get 
out  of  all  this.  It  is  no  place  for  you.  The 
rain  is  over  now.  Will  you  trust  yourself  with 
me  for  a  walk  in  the  fresh  air?" 

Immediately  she  lifted  dark  eyes,  bearing  re- 
lief and  such  a  touch  of  still-unstained  beauty 
that  I  was  amazed  they  could  keep  so  clean  in 


212     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

expression  after  nights  in  places  like  these. 
Again  I  decided  that  the  girl's  bravado  was 
only  a  pitiful  bluff.  The  path  of  gloom  was 
evidently  a  very  new  and  still  frightful  place  to 
her  little  wandering  feet.  "Why,  of  course,  I 
will  gladly  come,"  she  stated  simply,  with  no 
attempt  at  coquetry — "with  you." 

The  blackness  had  lifted  when  the  girl  and  I 
went  out  into  the  night.  Stars  had  crept  forth 
in  brilliant  wonder.  Looming  buildings  and 
gorging  chimneys  lay  softened  into  fanciful  tur- 
rets and  ladders  of  clouds.  Even  the  chill  lake- 
breeze  slumbered  mercifully.  The  girl  moved 
near  me,  slipping  her  hand  with  wonderful  trust 
through  mine.  As  I  drew  her  still  nearer  to 
protect  her  from  the  cold,  the  shivering  caused 
by  insufficient  clothing  ceased.  She  seemed  a 
soul  wonderfully  at  peace  for  the  moment. 

On  the  breakwater  at  the  foot  of  Twenty-sec- 
ond Street  was  where  we,  by  an  unspoken  under- 
standing, chose  our  resting-place.  We  had  ex- 
changed but  a  sentence  or  two  during  the  quick 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     213 

walk.  There,  on  the  cold  gray  stones  that 
served  to  keep  the  purifying  waters  of  the  lake 
from  breaking  loose,  we  seemed  to  find  a  spot 
that  fitted  into  our  mood — and  circumstances! 
It  was  after  the  fifth  or  sixth  cigar,  I  think,  that 
I  broke  the  silence.  The  girl,  her  small  feet 
drawn  up  carefully  from  the  splashing  water, 
her  form  huddled  ever  near  me  for  warmth,  had 
also  observed  a  doleful  quiet.  For  you  realize, 
Ed,  it  is  the  custom  of  lives  like  these — the  Girl 
in  the  Land  of  Shadow,  and  mine  as  it  then 
seemed — to  ask  no  questions  concerning  the 
past ;  to  accept  only  the  present  on  one  side,  as 
it  must  be  accepted  on  the  other — on  faith — and 
often  at  a  fearful  risk ! 

But  this  evening,  moved  by  a  great  tide  of 
feeling,  I  broke  the  rule — and  the  woman  did  not 
resent  it.  "Why,  little  girl,"  I  asked  as  I 
pitched  my  cigar  into  the  darkened  waters, 
"why  did  you  spot  yourself  by  going  into  that 
hell-spot,  where  I  found  you  to-night !" 

The  girl  drew  a  quick  breath.     "Oh,  it  is  such 


214     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

a  trite  story.  You  will  think  that  it  is  manu- 
factured." 

Her  very  words  proved  to  me  at  once  that  she 
was,  as  I  had  suspected,  in  the  grasp  of  dire 
misfortune  rather  than  hereditary  prompting. 
They  rang  with  reason  and  grammatical  knowl- 
edge. I  reached  out  and  touched  her  nerveless 
fingers.  They  were  such  decent  hands,  show- 
ing an  attempt  to  keep  them  soft  and  well- 
groomed.  The  breeze  lifted  and  displayed, 
even  in  the  low  glow  of  artificially  lit  surround- 
ings, a  flowing  of  heavy  curls  about  her  face. 
Involuntarily  my  fingers  raised  and  touched 
their  softness.  "Tell  me,  girlie,"  I  insisted. 
"It  is  a  shame,  a  shame!  Why  there  is  lady's 
blood  there — in  the  shape  and  the  texture  of 
your  hands,  yes  everywhere  in  you!" 

"You  are  right,"  she  cried,  with  a  quick  gasp 
of  consternation.  "Oh,  it  is  a  simple  story  soon 
told.  I  was  left  an  orphan,  without  any  means, 
with  only  disinterested,  most  distant  relatives. 
I  was  too  proud  to  appeal  to  them.  I  was  of- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL    215 

fered  a  position  in  a  store  of  my  little  village- 
town.  Oh,  I  ought  to  have  taken  it.  I  ought 
to  have  taken  it !  But  I  thought,  as  many  other 
foolish  girls  have  done,  that  I  had  too  much  in 
me  for  a  cramped  little  village  environment. 
I  owned  fare  to  Chicago,  and  a  few  weeks' 
board;  so  I  came.  I  don't  know  what  I  ex- 
pected to  do;  but  I  thought  it  would  be  some- 
thing wonderful.  And,  soon,  I  found  I  could 
not  even  earn  the  price  of  my  daily  bread ! ' ' 

"And  then  you  grew  discouraged  and  needy 
and  hungry  and  desperate — and  lonesome — oh, 
so  bitterly  lonesome — I  know  all  the  rest,  little 
one,"  I  hurried  on. 

"Yes,  lonesome;  that  is  what  caused  my 
downfall.  I  could  stand  the  other  part — the 
gnawing  and  the  cold  and  looking  and  feeling 
so  fearfully  shabby,  but  I  couldn't  stand  that! 
It  is  the  secret  of  all  great  misfortune  with 
women  like  me,  I  think." 

"And  you  were  too  proud  to  send  word  back 
of  your  failure,  or  to  return. ' ' 


216     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

"Yes/'  she  laughed  bitterly  in  answer. 

"But  why  didn't  you  go  to  some  church — or 
join  some  Y.  W.  C.  AJ"  I  queried  curiously. 

The  girl  threw  up  her  hands  in  disdain.  ' '  To 
church  in  these  clothes!  And  the  poor  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  It's  all  right,  I  guess;  but  swamped — 
swamped  with  calls  upon  its  powers.  There 
ought  to  be  an  annex  of  private  homes  to  help 
its  overflow !  Then  perhaps  you  know  how  it  is 
when  one  has  had  a  family  that  has  always  stood 
alone.  I  couldn't  ask  help.  I  couldn't  take 
charity.  But,  oh,  I  was  so  bitterly,  bitterly 
lonesome ! 

"Yes!"  she  breathed  low,  "then  he  came. 
He  was  so  thoughtful;  so  attentive;  so  gentle- 
manly ;  he  seemed  to  love  me  so.  I  thought  he 
truly  wanted  to  marry  me.  Then  one  evening 
he  asked  for  the  one  big  proof  that  would  con- 
vince him  that  I  loved  him  body  and  soul.  I 
gave  it!  Oh,  it  wasn't  the  crime  of  a  moment; 
but  the  result  of  weeks  of  clever  petting  and  of 
comradeship !  Even  the  weakest  do  not  fall  in 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     217 

a  moment,  in  spite  of  the  clutch-and-get  them 
theories  of  many  home-hemmed  innocents.  If 
some  one  true  had  only  come  in  time ! ' ' 

"Did  you  never  follow  him  up?"  I  asked. 

"Yes,"  she  cried.  Her  body  suddenly  stiff- 
ened; her  breath  came  short  and  full  of  hate, 
then  relaxed  into  softer  mood.  "It  was  when  I 
thought — baby — would  really  live.  Thank  God 
he  never  breathed  a  gasp  of  life!  It  was  a 
fierce  winter  evening,  and  I  was  so  ill.  I  threw 
on  my  wraps  that  he  had  given  me — they  were 
pretty  and  warm — and  I  tracked  him  from 
place  to  place,  where  I  knew  he  was  used  to  go- 
ing. I  hated  him  then,  but  it  was  of  the  baby — 
his  and  mine — that  I  was  thinking.  I  meant 
that  he  should  give  it  any  small  chance  of  hope 
or  success  that  was  left  it — after  such  a  birth. 
Well,  I  found  him,  at  a  big  party  on  a  wealthy 
avenue.  When  I  sent  in  my  name  by  the  butler, 
he  came  right  out.  I  think  I  must  have  looked 
very  beautiful  that  night  in  my  fierce  rebel- 
lion— for  when  he  once  saw  me,  he  excused  him- 


218     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

self  at  once  from  the  party,  seeming  to  feel  no 
interest  in  anything  else  but  being  with  me — 
and  took  me  away  to  a  little,  very  select  res- 
taurant, where  we  had  spent  many  happy  hours 
together. ' ' 

The  girl  stopped  abruptly,  and  for  a  time  I 
could  not  break  the  silence.  ' '  Did  he  stand  true 
blue?"  I  finally  asked. 

Her  laugh  was  much  like  that  given  finally  by 
poor  Jarvis.  I  shuddered  involuntarily  as  its 
hopeless  notes  fell  upon  the  night.  '  *  He  told  me 
he  would  do  what  he  could — in  the  way  of  cover- 
ing expenses  and  providing  even  luxuries !  But 
he  said  it  must  not  come  out.  He  explained 
that  he  was  molding  his  plans  to  reach  his 
father 's  place  eventually — that  of  Chief  Justice. 
He  told  me  for  the  first  time  that  he  was  en- 
gaged to  a  sweet,  very  pure  young  girl,  who 
knew  absolutely  nothing  of  careless  life.  'If 
it  were  just  myself,  Kiddo,'  he  explained,  'you 
know  I  would  stand  by  you  openly.  I  would 
just  close  my  eyes  and  drift  down  the  stream, 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     219 

you  in  my  arms,  whether  the  way  be  rough  or 
smooth.  But  as  it  is — where  would  those  that 
love  me  come  out!  Why,  it  would  break  my 
old  daddy's  heart,  and  crush  out  my  poor 
mother's  very  life.  And  how  do  you  think  the 
little  girl  would  feel,  who  has  trusted  her  own 
pure  soul  to  me?' 

The  long  silence  that  followed  showed  that  the 
girl  was  at  the  end  of  any  evidence  she  meant 
to  give.  The  recitation  had  sickened  me  with 
its  howling  evidence  all  through  of  the  yellow 
dog — the  dastardly  yellow  dog.  And  I  felt  in- 
stinctively that  every  word  the  girl  had  spoken 
was  true.  With  an  exclamation  of  revengeful 
thought,  I  reached  out  and  gathered  the  poor 
little  thing  into  my  arms.  A  name  sprang 
wildly  into  my  brain  of  just  such  a  man — a 
young  college-fellow  that  was  preparing  to  take 
a  legal  course,  and,  later,  follow  in  his  honor- 
able father's  footsteps.  "Chester?"  I  whis- 
pered to  her  now  fiercely.  But  the  littleness 
of  my  act  was  quickly  rebuffed.  She  showed 


220     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

the  greater  spirit  by  remaining  loyal  to  a  trust, 
no  matter  how  undeserving,  as  all  true-souled 
women  have  done  since  the  beginning  of  time. 
A  fact  that  of  itself  alone  should  set  decent  men 
howling  for  one  standard,  rather  than  scoffing 
and  rejecting  the  weak  woman  who  protects 
them. 

"The  name — that  I  shall  never  tell,"  she  re- 
proved fiercely.  "He — did  come  back  to  look 
us  up  later — much  later — the  boy  and  me.  But 
the  baby  had  not  lived,  and  I,  believing  him  en- 
tirely conscienceless,  aside  from  providing 
handsomely  for  expenses,  left  that  quarter  as 
soon  as  I  was  well  enough,  without  giving  any 
address.  A  slum-angel  told  me  about  his  return 
and  search,  or  I  should  never  have  known. " 
Her  voice  had  dropped  into  gentlest  accents. 
But  suddenly  her  mood  changed.  "See,"  she 
laughed  scornfully,  "that  building  just  across 
the  line  of  tracks  is  lit  from  attic  to  cellar.  Do 
you  know  why?  A  big  flood  has  swept  Ohio 
farm-lands,  and  a  whole  town  is  in  terrible  need. 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     221 

Human  souls  are  working  there  with  all  their 
might  to  fill  boxes  that  will  clothe  and  feed  the 
bodies  of  the  people  in  the  flooded  town.  But 
if  7  should  step  in  now  and  ask  them  to  put  new 
clothes  and  new  garments  on  my  soul — by  re- 
ceiving me,  only  a  few,  likely  none  of  them, 
would  give  me  a  chance.  They  are  too  'nice' 
to  risk  contamination  from  even  talking  about 
such  things,  or  listening  to  a  woman  like  me!" 
A  picture  of  Christ  and  the  lowly  Magdalene, 
which  I  had  seen  long  before  when  on  a  visit 
to  a  cathedral  with  Nurse  Marie,  flashed  oddly 
before  my  mind.  No  subject  too  miry,  too 
vivid,  too  loathsome  for  the  Great  Master  Physi- 
cian to  handle — but  mortals  must  gather  their 
garments  quickly,  most  painstakingly  about 
them,  for  fear  of  contamination,  before  enter- 
ing the  shadow  of  the  greatest  soul-cry  that 
this  old  world  knows — the  wronged — the  help- 
less woman — the  possible  mother  of  a  child  that 
must,  inevitably,  enter  this  world  under  heavi- 
est odds.  And  all  the  time  a  father  somewhere 


222     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

— often  smiling,  successful,  even  venerated,  who, 
must  come  out  unscathed  of  course,  for  the  sake 
of  the  loved  ones,  for  whose  feelings,  at  the  ap- 
proach of  threatened  disaster,  he  feels  a  most 
wonderful  solicitude,  never  equaled  in  intensity 
in  the  days  of  his  rashness,  nor  experienced 
again  in  the  years  to  follow ! 

Suddenly  the  girl  broke  my  wanderings.  She 
lifted  her  face,  and  clutched  my  arm  in  a  fierce 
grasp.  "Oh,  tell  me,"  she  pleaded.  "You 
know  life  better  than  I  do — you  have  been  in  the 
very  best — I  know  it  You  remind  me,  some- 
how, very  much  of  him.  Is  there  any  use  for  a 
girl  like  me  to  start  fresh  again  in  a  life  that 
gives  a  man  as  many  chances  as  he  wants?  I 
never  longed  to  so  hard  as  to-night.  It  is  be- 
cause you  have  been  good  to  me,  I  think,  like 
— like  a  real  friend ! ' ' 

I  couldn't  bear,  Ed,  to  look  into  the  girl's 
troubled  face.  I  strove  to  be  honest,  but  for 
once  I  could  not.  '  *  You  have  gone  such  a  short 
time  in  this  foolish  way,"  I  condoled,  "perhaps 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     223 

you  can  turn  back  now.  Perhaps  you'll  have 
lots  of  chances  to  grow  strong  again. ' ' 

She  rose  part  way,  then  fell  on  her  knees  by 
my  side,  bending  her  flushed  face  very  near 
mine.  " Would  you  give  me  a  chance!"  she 
cried.  "You  know  what  suffering  this  miser- 
able life  is.  Would  you  call  me  a  friend  and  go 
with  me  as  a  real  one,  if  you  could  get  back  right 
now  to  your  real  true  place?" 

Thoughts  of  my  proud  father  flashed  suddenly 
across  my  vision ;  and  of  Senator  and  Mrs.  Buck- 
ingham— of  the  Linkersteins — of  Catherine — of 
a  as  yet  unknown  but  perfectly  possible  young 
girl,  chaste  as  falling  snowflakes,  that  might 
eventually  come  into  my  life.  What  possible  ex- 
cuse would  these  proud-minded,  pure-hearted 
people  find  for  me  if  I  made  such  a  choice  of 
friends!  How  they  would  writhe  in  humilia- 
tion at  what  they  would  term  my  selfish  fanati- 
cism. Irrationally,  considering  my  fierce  ar- 
raignment of  but  a  few  moments  ago  against  the 
man  that  had  wronged  this  girl — I  was  taking 


224     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

exactly  the  same  weak  stand,  though  with  less 
cause  for  responsibility, — the  time-worn  view 
that  convention  expected.  I  was  not  brave 
enough  to  strike  out  in  the  open  honestly  for 
equality  of  justice  for  both  sexes  on  account  of 
consideration  for  my  family  standing,  and,  in- 
cidentally, my  own  imminent  hazard. 

"Oh,  little  woman,"  I  pleaded.  "We  have 
found  each  other,  and  it  means  a  lot  to  both  of 
us  in  our  loneliness.  I  can 't  go  out  in  the  open 
now — with  any  one.  Neither  can  I  explain. 
But  why  can't  you  be  content!  I  will  guard 
you  and  take  care  of  you.  Let  us  try  a  tempo- 
rary home  together.  You  can  make  your 
struggle  with  me,  as  a  real  friend,  and  we  will 
never  forget  the  comfort  we  gave  each  other. 
If  you  wish,  it  will  be  platonic  friendship  only 
— companions  for  each  other,  and  a  cozy  home, 
though  it  would  have  to  be  very,  very  crude  as 
I  am  making  little  salary  now,  at  best.*'  Even 
as  I  placed  the  petition  I  recognized  in  it  the 
yellow  streak ;  for  I  had  not  lately  looked  upon 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     225 

my  will-power  and  control  as  wholly  infallible, 
as  I  certainly  had  in  previous  years. 

The  girl  saw  my  weakness  of  argument,  at 
once.  With  a  bitter  laugh,  she  threw  herself 
away  from  the  touch  I  had  thrown  out  to  her. 
She  clutched  at  her  throat  with  a  hard  sob. 
1  'Oh,  that's  it.  That's  it!  You  are  just  like 
the  rest — only  nicer  in  saying  it.  That  is  what 
makes  us  women  hard  and  desperate  so  soon. 
Men  will  let  us  entertain  them — want  us  to  en- 
tertain them — come  to  us  invariably  when  life 
seems  most  dreary.  But  the  decent  name — the 
friendship  in  evidence — oh,  there  is  no  hope — no 
hope!  For  if  they  were  fair  enough  to  give 
us  the  chance  they  want  for  themselves — where 
in  the  world  would  they  and  their  loved  ones 
come  out !  Where  indeed ! ' ' 

"Little  Girl!"  I  cried,  suddenly  moved  past 
any  power  of  reasoning — "what  right  have  I 
to  judge  ?  We  have  met  and  I  need  you — want 
your  friendship.  Since  you  have  taken  me  on 
faith — if  you  will  wait  till  I  have  the  means  to 


226     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

marry — if  you  will  let  me  be  your  friend  as  I 
am — just  for  a  little  while — " 

But  again  she  laughed  mockingly.  "No," 
she  cried,  springing  away  from  me.  "You  feel 
yourself  so  in  the  shadows  now  that  you  are 
almost  willing.  You  can  almost  persuade  your- 
self that  you  would  be  brave  enough  to  do  as 
you  say.  But  if  you  once  got  back — ah,  I  know 
even  pity  for  me  wouldn't  hold  you." 

* '  Then  at  least  let  me  see  you  home ;  let  me 
know  where  you  live,"  I  insisted,  rising  to  fol- 
low her  retreating  form.  "You  are  too  pretty 
— and  far  too  good  still  to  be  on  the  street  alone 
this  time  at  night." 

"Thank  you  for  that!"  she  said  stopping. 
"But  I  won't  let  you.  I" — her  voice  broke  in 
misery — "oh,  you  have  been  so  good — so  good 
to  me — I  couldn't  trust  myself  even  for  that. 
But  I  am  going  to  try  just  once  more — try  for 
a  year — no  matter  what  the  humiliations — to 
find  one  soul  that  is  willing  to  give  me  an  hon- 
est open  chancel" 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     227 

"And  if  you  do?"  I  asked. 

* '  If  I  do,  God  knows  I  shall  strain  every  drop 
of  blood,  every  tissue,  every  thought  of  mind 
and  soul  to  gain  the  footing  I  have  lost.*' 

"But  if  you  can't  find  the  'Willing  Helper,' 
Girlie ! "  I  deplored  with  a  miserable  insistence 
I  could  not  understand. 

"Then  you  will  never  see  my  face  nor  hear 
my  name;  for  you  will  go  back  to  the  world 
which  has  lost  you  a  moment — why,  I  can  not 
understand — to  the  world  where  the  question 
of  single  standard  is  too  doubtful  to  handle  on 
nice  tongues  and  in  pure  hearts;  but  where 
man's  vagaries  are  ever  accepted." 

"Poor  child!"  I  cried,  longing  to  find  some 
comforting  solution  for  her,  "come  back! 
Listen  to  me.  Surely  there  is  a  way. 
Surely—" 

Just  then  a  train,  belching  huge  volumes  of 
smoke,  shrieked  its  way  along  the  medley  of 
tracks,  where  countless  red  or  yellow  lights 
blinked  their  respective  messages  of  warning 


228     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

or  safety.  In  the  confusion  of  its  sudden  com- 
ing, the  girl's  lithe,  graceful  body  seemed  to 
writhe  its  way  suddenly  into  the  noise  and  the 
darkness.  When  the  smoke  cleared  away,  I 
followed  in  vain.  The  Girl  in  the  Land  of 
Shadow  had  utterly  disappeared! 


LETTER  XVII 

Aliston  to  Holland.  A  Very  Brief  Note 
Concerning  a  Minute  Search  for  the  Girl 
in  the  Land  of  Shadow. 

DEAB  ORISON: 

It  was  not  my  plan  at  all  to  interrupt  your 
reports  with  a  petition  of  my  own;  but  your 
sketch  of  the  "Girl  in  the  Land  of  Shadow'* 
has  stirred  me  into  deepest  interest.  The  mo- 
ment you  begin  present-day  investigations, 
please  feel  that  an  unlimited  sum  on  my  part  is 
at  your  command  to  find  out  the  little  girl's 
whereabouts.  I  can  not  get  away  from  the  sad- 
ness and  utter  isolation  of  the  case.  Why  not 
employ  a  good  detective?  They  are  wonder- 
fully keen  in  ferreting  out  slum  characters, 

seemingly  untraceable  for   a  while. COB- 

DIALLY,  ED. 

229 


LETTER  XVIII 

Sixth  Report  from  Holland  to  'Aliston. 
Concerning  His  Second  Engagement.  Still 
at  Ellison  Grove,  November  Fourteenth. 

DEAR  ED: 

I  am  hurrying  the  reports  rapidly  now,  for 
fear  I  shall  lose  courage;  though  this  one  por- 
tion of  my  life  rings  with  a  wholesome  note  that 
I  shall  never  forget.  You  know,  doubtless,  how 
it  would  be  if  some  one  who  appeals,  inexplic- 
ably enough,  just  that  she  does,  should  flit  into 
your  path  and  away.  I  was  more  miserable, 
more  disheartened,  more  utterly  lonesome  after 
meeting  the  poor  little  Girl  in  the  Land  of 
Shadow,  and  losing  all  trace  of  her  as  soon, 
than  I  had  ever  been  before. 

You  remember  it  was  late  spring  when  I 
started  out  on  the  walk  that  ended  in  Murphy's 

230 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL    231 

" parlor  restaurant."  In  June,  a  fearfully  hot 
month  for  that  season  of  the  year,  I  was  pro- 
moted to  the  position  of  floor- walker  in  the  base- 
ment of  the  same  department  store.  My  sal- 
ary was  better,  and  immediately  I  transferred 
my  few  belongings  from  my  barren  quarters 
into  simple  but  much  more  desirable  ones. 
I  meant  at  some  time,  of  course,  to  get  out  of 
all  this — to  go  back  to  ease  and  education;  but 
just  how  or  when,  since  I  was  too  foolishly 
proud  and  hurt  to  claim  a  cent  of  the  money  that 
was  accumulating  for  me  under  my  rightful 
name,  was  very  indefinite.  Meanwhile  I 
writhed  under  the  horror  of  being  recognized 
by  some  former  friend  or  acquaintance — and 
pitied.  Pity  was  the  last  thing  that  I  could 
have  stood  at  this  time.  I  was  running  a  big 
bluff,  and  I  intended  to  fight  it  out  alone.  In 
the  basement-quarters  I  felt  a  certain  security, 
for  none  of  my  former  friends  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  descend  to  hot-wave,  breathless  quar- 
ters in  frantic  search  of  the  69-  or  98-cent  "bar- 


232     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

gains."  Once  Jimmy  Calhoun  did  go  laugh- 
ingly through,  stopping  at  the  jewelry-counter 
to  purchase  a  dozen  gold-dipped  scarf  pins,  "for 
some  masked-ball  affair,"  he  explained,  as  he 
flirted  with  the  rainbow-hued  girl.  When  he 
turned  slightly  my  way,  I  stooped  so  hastily  be- 
hind a  counter  of  blankets  that  the  young  girl 
cashier  put  her  blonde  head  through  the  cage- 
window  to  ask  me  if  I  were  ill.  But  though  I 
had  sought  for  a  hiding-place,  as  a  murderer 
might  at  the  approach  of  officers,  I  could  hardly 
refrain  from  plunging  after  Jimmy's  easy,  im- 
pressive form,  when  he  started  up  the  stairs,  his 
errand  done.  I  longed  just  to  wring  his  hand 
— to  ask  after  the  boys — to  beg  him,  under  a  veil 
of  attempted  lightness,  to  tell  me  how  he  man- 
aged to  stay  ever  so  gay,  so  happy — to  plead  for 
just  a  word  of  the  home  town — and,  with  the 
indifference  with  which  most  vital  subjects  are 
worded,  to  ask  if  all  was  well  with  my  father. 
Ed,  as  I  stood  there,  longing,  but  not  daring ; 
too  foolishly  proud  to  show  any  feeling;  bluff- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     233 

ing,  bluffing  one  big  mistaken,  miserable  bluff 
— I  thought  suddenly  of  the  many  times  that  the 
Girl  in  the  Land  of  Shadow  must  have  felt  her- 
self in  this  very  ignominious  place.  Longing, 
craving  with  all  her  soul,  a  soul  perhaps  far 
from  being  as  careless  as  mine  was  even  then, 
for  just  one  word  from  friends  or  home — and 
yet  not  daring  to  be  recognized  for  fear  of  in- 
sult. While  just  above  her,  perhaps,  in  a  broad 
aisle  of  the  luxurious  store,  at  the  counter  of 
myriad  jewels,  the  very  man  who  put  her  in  her 
miserable  position,  is  bowing  here  and  there  to 
persons  of  assured  positions,  and  buying  some 
cobwebbed  or  gleaming  fantasy,  with  which  to 
lure  others  into  her  place  of  misery.  To  lure, 
and  then,  when  novelty  wanes,  to  sail  off  over 
pleasant  blue  seas,  himself  unscathed,  himself 
protected  by  those  unjust  but  comfortable  laws 
that  seldom  fail  to  yield  their  protection  to 
erring  man. 

It  was  upon  that  very  night  that  the  strain  of 
my  being  utterly  and  seemingly  forever  sepa- 


234     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

rated  from  my  one  parent,  the  weakening  force 
of  the  awful  heat  that  had  held  the  city  pant- 
ing for  a  fortnight,  and  the  nervous  condition 
following  the  unaccustomed  reckoning  of  each 
penny,  culminated  in  the  spell  of  fever  that  held 
me  mercifully  in  a  month  of  oblivion.  The 
landlady  was  not  the  usual  type  depicted  in 
"  mo  vies"  and  starvation  stories.  She  nursed 
me  most  conscientiously,  taking  her  pay  on 
faith,  though  she  was  not  without  many  priva- 
tions herself. 

The  day  I  struggled  out  for  a  walk  was  just 
a  week  after  I  sat  up  for  the  first  time.  The 
landlady  herself  had  buttoned  my  overcoat  care- 
fully across  my  chest,  for  the  hot  wave  had 
given  place  to  an  unusual  chill.  She  warned 
me  not  to  overdo,  and  to  walk  along  some  cheery 
street.  I  followed  her  instructions  so  well  that 
my  weak  steps  turned  at  once  to  the  drawbridge 
on  Twenty-second  Street !  Here  little  sparrows 
housed  and  chirped  in  the  many  decorative 
creases  of  the  great  iron  bridge.  Here  the 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     235 

baby  birds,  too,  enjoyed  the  unusual  privilege 
of  swinging  up  and  down  frequently  in  their 
iron-walled  cradles,  when  the  bridge  lifted  for 
the  passing  of  the  belching  boat-chimneys  that 
refused  to  bend  but  half-way.  These  birds 
were  the  only  pleasing  diversion.  The  waters 
below  me  were  muddy,  and  trash-strewn.  They 
possessed  a  beckoning  power  that  all  morbidly 
laden  sights  or  thoughts  do,  inevitably,  to  the 
mind  not  quite  at  its  full  control.  I  stood 
there  looking  over  for  a  long,  long  time,  scorn- 
ing myself  for  the  cowardly  spirit  that  kept  me 
from  plunging  at  once.  Why,  had  not  even 
poor  Meg  of  the  streets  been  brave  enough  just 
a  month  before!  And  had  not  drunken  Jerry 
trusted  himself  to  the  future,  rather  than  the 
misery  of  the  present.  And  the  Girl  in  the  Land 
of  Shadow — Poor  little  kid,  perhaps  she  had 
not  found  her  one  friend.  Perhaps  before  now 
she  too — 

A  hand  touched  me  suddenly  on  the  shoulder, 
so  that  I  started  with  actual  fright — "De  good 


236     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

Gawd  be  praised.  We  has  Mm  at  last!"  ex- 
claimed a  voice  which  I  knew  well  to  be  Joe's. 
I  turned  slowly,  first  to  look  into  his  face,  un- 
necessarily happy,  I  thought  vaguely,  for  the 
conditions  of  environment — and  then  my  glance 
went  on  to  meet  the  soothing,  deeply  tender 
eyes  of  Senator  Buckingham.  "Boy,"  he  said, 
"come  home!"  His  voice  was  very,  very 
husky.  "There  is  some  one  that  needs  you 
there,  more  than  he  needs  anything  else  in  the 
world.  Your  father,  Orison,  has  had  a  para- 
lytic stroke.  The  doctor  says  he  will  not  sur- 
vive another.  He  calls  for  you  constantly 
now. ' ' 

I  made  absolutely  no  reply,  but  yielded  my- 
self to  Senator  Buckingham  and  Joe  as  a  new- 
born babe  might  to  the  handling  of  doctor  and 
nurse.  They  put  me  tenderly  in  the  auto. 
From  the  way  the  Senator's  eyes  kept  return- 
ing involuntarily  to  my  face  with  a  sobered 
glance,  I  realized  he  was  shocked  with  my  ap- 
pearance. But  he  made  no  mention  of  the  mat- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     237 

ter.  The  kindly  landlady  was  paid,  much 
above  her  statement,  from  the  Senator's 
well-filled  purse;  the  supplies  at  the  tailor's 
to  make  me  even  presentable  in  my  home 
town  were  financed  the  same  way.  I  seemed  to 
have  lost  all  pride — to  be  so  weak,  so  helpless, 
a  mere  drifter  on  a  subconscious  sea  of  dull 
emotion,  that  I  was  glad  to  have  everything 
done  for  me.  It  had  been  too  bitter  a  season, 
when  I,  formerly  pampered  past  any  wisdom, 
perhaps,  had  been  forced  to  fight  out  every 
question  alone — alone. 

As  we  whirled  our  luxurious  way  homeward 
on  the  Vestibule-Limited,  the  Senator  dropped 
several  times  into  personalities,  with  evident 
effort  to  arouse  me.  "You  must  go  back  to 
college  in  the  fall,  Ory,"  he  said  affectionately. 
"Oh,  you  proud  stubborn  boy,"  he  added,  "to 
waste  all  this  time  and  give  us  such  a  chase !  I 
declare,  I  should  have  thrown  up  my  hands  in 
despair,  if  it  hadn't  been  for  Joe.  I  found  out 
that  he  left  college  with  you,  and  a  note  to 


238     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

Chester  gave  his  address.  He  said  we  would 
ferret  you  out  someway — that  Chicago  was 
nothing  but  a  clear-cut  checker-board  to  him. 
You  see,  the  professors  are  wanting  you  back. 
They  found  out  too  late  what  a  little  part  you 
really  had  to  do  with — that  odious  affair." 

'  *  How  did  they  find  out  ? "  I  asked.  I  remem- 
ber this  was  my  first  question  of  interest. 

"How? — Well,  little  Jarvis  made  every  inch 
of  the  two  hundred  miles  to  tell  them — that's 
how.  He  said  he  had  to  prove  your  innocence 
by  several  people,  so  letters  wouldn't  do.  He 
didn't  have  the  price  of  the  car-fare,  so  he 
walked  and  accepted  auto  and  wagon  rides. 
Even  poor  Zista  testified  that  you  were  out  and 
away  before  the  disagreeable  affair  began.  She 
did  it  more  to  spite  Chester  I  think,  for  whom 
she  is  nursing  a  great  hatred  on  account  of  some 
secret  slight.  I  think  I  never  saw  any  one  so 
happy  as  Professor  and  Mrs.  Linkerstein, 
when  the  knowledge  of  your  early  departure 
from  the  Inn,  and  your  attempt  to  save  poor 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     239 

Jarvis  came  to  them.  But  your  father,  your 
poor  father!  His  remorse  at  condemning  you 
so  severely  and  his  vain  efforts  to  locate  you 
were  fearful  to  witness — until  the  mercy  of  the 
stroke  came." 

Suddenly  the  Senator  bent  nearer  me.  "I 
think  I  would  not  even  speak  of  the  matter  that 
occurred  between  you,  Ory,"  he  urged.  "Not 
even  an  apology  or  regret.  If  you  could  have 
seen  his  suffering,  and  then  witness  his  pres- 
ent release  from  painful  memory,  you  would 
almost  welcome  the  stroke.  His  mind  is 
freighted  now  only  with  sweetest  memory  of 
his  little  flower-wife — and  of  you — her  son  and 
his!  Faithful  Marie  assures  him  constantly 
that  you  will  soon  be  with  him.  Ah,  bless  God, 
we  found  you  in  time !" 

For  the  tender  moments  that  followed,  when 
for  the  first  time  I  knew  my  father,  and  he 
showed  his  love  for  me  with  pitiful  eagerness 
— I  can  never  be  thankful  enough.  But  when 


240     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

the  end  came  on  a  beautiful  afternoon  in  early 
September,  I  felt  that  form  of  great  sorrow 
that  knows  at  the  same  time  with  the  pain  of 
losing,  an  unspeakable  peace.  We  were  in  the 
garden,  my  father  and  I,  he,  couched  with  many 
pillows  piled  high  in  his  wheel-chair.  This  was 
placed  where  a  glorious  burst  of  chrysanthe- 
mums, red  and  yellow  and  russet-brown,  flamed 
at  his  very  feet.  On  the  hillsides  the  maples 
had  changed  their  green  for  vivid  scarlet. 

"There  is  no  use  trying  to  prove  immortal- 
ity, Ory,"  my  father  said.  I  noticed  at  once 
that  his  voice  was  much  weaker  than  usual. 
*  *  It  is  here ;  it  is  there, ' '  he  moved  a  thin,  shapely 
hand  toward  the  flowers,  toward  the  warm- 
decked  hilltops,  "it  is  in  our  constant  longing 
to  attain  unto  better  things.  It  is  in  the  call  of 
your  mother,  so  sweet,  so  near,  to  come  to  her. ' ' 
Suddenly  his  voice  broke,  and  he  leaned  heavily 
against  the  back  of  his  chair,  closing  his  eyes. 
"Bead — me — the  poet's  little  verse — your — 
precious  mother's  favorite,"  he  smiled. 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     241 

I  picked  up  a  volume  of  Whitcomb  Eiley  and 
turned  at  once  to  what  I  realized  he  wanted  to 
hear. 

"When  I  shall  be  her  lover  forever  and  a  day, 

And  she  my  faithful  sweetheart,  till  the  golden  hair 

was  gray. 
And  we  should  be  so  happy,  that  when  either 's  lips 

were  dumb 
They  could  not  smile  in  heaven,  till  the  other's  kiss 

had  come. ' ' 

"  'Till  the  other's  kiss  had  come,'  "  he  mur- 
mured gently,  as  he  reached  out  for  my  hand. 
And  with  a  happy  smile  on  his  lips,  my  big, 
learned,  childlike  father's  spirit  passed  peace- 
fully away. 

Perhaps  it  was  the  simple  sweet  conception 
of  love  renewed  in  heaven  under  natural  con- 
ditions that  my  father  had  shown ;  perhaps  only 
the  vivid  change  from  sordid  and  dingy  and 
health-impairing  surroundings  to  wonderfully 
wholesome,  simple  and  entirely  different  from 
my  own  that  made  me  take  the  unexpected  step 


242     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

I  made  a  little  later.  Often,  I  think,  men  of 
highest  mentality,  to  as  great  a  degree  as  those 
of  rusty  brains,  are  governed  in  their  love- 
affairs  much  more  by  the  effect  of  a  vivid 
change  in  surroundings  or  conditions  than  to 
any  reasoning  they  give.  They  think  they 
have  solved  just  why  a  certain  woman  is  best- 
fitted  to  meet  their  particular  needs  and  tem- 
perament, when  after  all  it  is  only  the  time  and 
the  place  that  hurries  them  into  the  vital  de- 
cision. This,  I  am  sure  as  I  look  back  upon  it, 
was  the  strongest  reason  for  my  proposal  to 
Mabel  Harris. 

Marie  and  I  were  in  the  painful  act  of  shroud- 
ing the  huge  furniture  of  the  big  house  in  white 
linen  until  that  time  when  I  should  return  from 
college  with  sufficient  courage  to  throw  it  open 
as  my  own  home,  when  Mabel  Harris  walked 
figuratively  and  literally  into  my  life. 

I  had  forbidden  even  Marie  to  enter  the  silent 
study,  where  my  father  had  spent  the  most  of 
his  time.  I  preferred  to  cover  all  those  pon- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     243 

derous  volumes,  so  precious  to  my  parent's 
heart,  alone,  unaided.  I  confess  little  of  the 
terror  of  childish  days  concerning  my  entrance 
into  this  place  of  places  had  forsaken  me.  Now, 
however,  my  awe  was  produced  more  from  a 
sense  of  my  own  unworthiness  and  the  bitter 
realization  of  how  very  late  I  had  entered  into 
the  full  conception  of  my  father's  worth  and 
greatness  of  soul,  in  patiently  trying  to  connect 
a  long-ago  past  with  the  meaning  of  the  present. 
My  knees  actually  trembled  as  I  crossed  the 
threshold,  a  clumsy  bundle  of  denim  coverings 
in  my  arms.  The  huge  volumes  seemed  oddly 
slanting  in  the  dim  light,  as  though  about  to 
throw  their  suffocating  weight  upon  me,  resent- 
ing the  levity  of  my  intrusion.  Filled  with  the 
oppression  of  the  moment,  I  covered  the  stretch 
of  the  big  room  quickly,  throwing  open  a  shut- 
ter with  the  nervous  rush  of  a  man  who  feels 
himself  about  to  be  overcome  by  the  weight  of 
poisonous  fumes. 
The  bright  rays  of  a  lingering  sunset  fell  at 


244     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

once  across  the  furnishings  of  the  room,  drew 
into  smiles  the  dull  tones  of  the  rug,  and  hurried 
on  gladly  to  wreathe  the  form  of  a  wholesome, 
sweet-faced  young  woman,  who  stood  directly  in 
the  doorway. 

"I  am  Mabel  Harris,"  a  perfectly  unem- 
barrassed voice  began,  as  though  its  owner 
realized  nothing  at  all  unusual  in  entering  a 
home  unannounced.  "Father  sent  me  over  to 
say  that  you  must  take  dinner  with  us  to-mor- 
row. It  is  Sunday,  you  know,  and  we  are  go- 
ing to  kill  our  first  young  turkey !  He  thought 
so  much  of  your  father.  Once,  when  we  were 
not  so  able  to  carry  our  land  as  now,  Mr.  Hol- 
land helped  my  daddy  out.  He  has  never  for- 
gotten his  friendship.  You  will  come?" 

I  felt  myself  oddly  pleased  with  the  invita- 
tion. And  again  my  heart  rang  with  joy  that 
here  was  another  of  the  many  I  was  finding  out 
father  had  helped.  For  from  the  deep  gloom 
of  that  silent  study  had  gone  out  frequent  evi- 
dences of  thought  for  others,  and  I,  in  my  base 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     245 

ignorance,  had  mistaken  reticence  for  coldness 
of  heart.  Now  my  father's  friends  were  ris- 
ing to  call  me — unworthy,  blind  as  I  had  ever 
been — blessed  on  his  account. 

"I  wish,"  Mabel  Harris  continued  practi- 
cally, "that  you  would  come  out  of  this  room 
with  nothing  in  it  but  stuffy,  stuffy  books,  and 
take  a  horseback  ride.  It  is  just  gloriously 
glorious  with  only  a  tiny  pin-prick  of  cold  in 
the  air !  You  can  saddle  your  bay — I  rode  my 
black  over,  and  you  needn't  wait  till  to-morrow 
to  take  a  meal  with  us.  I  know  you  will  be 
frightfully  hungry  after  our  ride.  Betty  is 
preparing  her  favorite  combination  of  corn- 
pone  and  smothered  chicken  to-night!" 

I  took  the  ride  with  Mabel  Harris,  and  later 
ate  the  delicious  corn-pone  and  chicken  which 
the  colored  Betty  prepared.  Sunday  I  gladly 
returned  and  the  Sunday  after  that,  and  then 
on  many  week-days.  Mabel  Harris  interested 
me  from  the  start  and  you  know  when  the  key- 
note of  interest,  "novelty,"  is  struck  there  is 


246     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

no  heading  off  a  man  till  lie  sounds  the  depths, 
or  when  finding  them  in  rare  instances  sound- 
less, succumbs  to  the  inevitable  proposal. 

Mabel  kept  house  most  efficiently  for  her 
father,  who  had  early  lost  his  wife.  She  was 
pretty  and  sweet-tempered  and  full  of  the  vivid 
glory  of  coloring  that  comes  from  a  simple  but 
very  energetic  outdoor  life.  At  five  she  was  up 
singing  about  the  house.  I  knew  this  because 
my  college  week-ends  often  rounded  up  under 
Mr.  Harris'  hospitable  roof  in  these  days,  in 
preference  to  wandering,  an  alien  in  spirit,  in 
my  own  big  gloomy  house.  She  did  none  of 
the  heavier  work,  such  as  milking,  churning,  and 
so  on;  for  Mr.  Harris  and  Betty  both  regarded 
her  as  the  apple  of  their  eye.  But  she  loved 
her  chickens  and  her  flowers,  and  she  knew 
just  how  to  give  the  cheery  touch  to  the  house 
and  breakfast-table,  that  takes  away  from  the 
early  morning  despair  of  beginning  everything 
anew!  She  was  scrupulously  neat,  even  unob- 
trusively stylish;  was  a  famous  horsewoman; 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     247 

and,  during  the  many,  many  times  we  met,  un- 
expectedly or  by  agreement,  I  never  knew  Ma- 
bel to  be  sitting  idly.  She  seemed  the  embodi- 
ment of  activity,  and  the  soul  of  perfect  good- 
nature. 

But  in  many  ways  she  puzzled  me.  "Books, 
oh,  spare  us  the  books!"  she  cried  one  day, 
when  I  wanted  to  read  from  a  volume  I  had 
come  across  in  the  college  library.  And  yet  she 
burst  into  tears  once  over  a  bit  of  intricate  pa- 
thos in  the  works  of  a  noted  writer.  She  knew 
no  wiles  of  coquetry  or  else  she  knew  them  all. 
Her  way  of  greeting  was  charmingly  naive  in 
its  frankness  of  delight.  When  I  left  she  in- 
variably followed  me  to  the  stile,  and  told  me  to 
be  sure  to  come  right  away  again.  Concerning 
the  discussions  or  attempted  settling  of  any 
non-conventional  or  doubtful  subjects  in  life, 
she  seemed  utterly  indifferent  or  at  sea.  And, 
withal,  she  possessed  such  a  true  dignity  that, 
despite  the  many  drives  we  had  together,  and 
the  true  affection  I  felt  for  her,  I  never  so  much 


248     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

as  laid  a  gloved  hand  on  the  tip  of  her  little  fin- 
ger in  a  caress.  I  am  quite  positive  that  she 
would  not  have  liked  it  if  I  had. 

And  yet,  with  all  her  simplicity  of  living,  did 
I  or  did  Mabel  accomplish  the  inevitable  pro- 
posal? That  is  what  I  sometimes  ponder  over 
in  idle  moments  to  this  day. 

It  was  early  September  of  the  year  when  I 
had  just  turned  twenty-two.  College,  accom- 
plished quite  decently  in  study-record,  and  thor- 
oughly clean  in  morals,  was  a  thing  of  the  past. 
I  was  to  leave  at  the  end  of  that  very  month  for 
my  proposed  law  course  at  Harvard.  It  was 
about  this  that  Mabel  and  I  were  talking,  as  we 
drew  up  our  horses  under  a  group  of  glistening- 
leaved  oaks  after  a  dashing  ride,  in  which  my 
soon-to-be  fiancee  had  far  outdone  me  in  her 
skill  and  daring  of  horsemanship ! 

"No,  I  can't  write  often,"  Mabel  answered 
my  request  with  one  of  the  first  shadows  I  had 
seen  on  her  winsome  face.  "  Words  are  so 
senseless  without  voice  or  looks;  and — and — 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     249 

anyway  you  will  be  invited  home  to  see  the  sis- 
ters of  your  college  chums,  and  they  will  inter- 
est you  more.  You'll  forget  all  about  me,  I 
know. ' ' 

This  first  evidence  of  a  possibility  for  jeal- 
ousy in  Mabel  stirred  me  deeply. 

"Will  I?  Forget  a  woman  who  has  been  the 
kindest  little  help  ever  to  a  fearfully  lonesome 
man !  No,  I  am  coming  back  to  you,  when  it  is 
all  over,  dear.  And  then  you  are  going  to  be 
my  wife ! ' ' 

I  did  not  even  then  touch  her  hand.  Her 
beautiful  clear  eyes  told  me  frankly  of  her  hap- 
piness, and  I  took  her  straight  in  my  arms. 
The  sunset  lights,  sifting  through  the  old  oak- 
boughs,  some  moments  later,  dropped  its  bene- 
dictory message  over  our  bowed  heads.  For 
the  moment  I  felt  that  no  two  souls  could  be 
more  completely  mated  than  were  ours. 

Letters,  Ed,  as  you  know,  span  mentality 
with  memories  that  might  otherwise,  the  brain 


250     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

hurrying  on  in  new  wave  undulations  as  it 
must,  be  quickly  crowded  out.  I  kept  faithful 
to  my  promise  of  writing  twice  a  week  to  Ma- 
bel, but  she  was  wonderfully  careless  about  the 
matter  of  reply.  I  found  that  Mabel  was  right. 
With  a  dear  one  by  our  side  we  catch  the  inter- 
est and  sympathy  of  tones,  and  witness  the  light 
and  play  of  smiles  and  interested  glances.  In 
a  letter  we  meet  a  person  stripped,  as  it  were, 
of  all  these  pleasing  embellishments.  I  soon 
chafed  under  the  discovery  that  Mabel's  letters 
were  simply  a  dignified  recitation  of  facts.  Con- 
trary to  the  other  farmer's  daughter  I  had  once 
known,  she  possessed  no  imagination,  no  dar- 
ing, or  brilliancy  of  thought  to  satisfy  or  even 
meet  my  restless,  constantly  speculative  mind. 
In  fact  through  her  letters  I  learned  what  I 
might  never  have  discovered  in  the  warmth  and 
charm  of  her  presence — that  there  was  no 
longer  any  lure  of  possibly  undiscovered  char- 
acteristics. I  had  sounded  Mabel  Harris  to  the 
depths,  and  discovered  too  late  that  her  sup- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     251 

posed  naivete  was  mere  simplicity  and  unac- 
quaintance  with  the  bigger  scope  of  life;  her 
constant  good-humor,  lack  of  ambition;  a  will- 
ingness to  be  content,  rather  than  to  aspire. 
So  I  persuaded  myself  miserably,  at  least ;  and, 
yet,  I  certainly  meant  to  remain  true.  I  felt 
bitterly  that  Mabel  would  never  be  the  mental 
spur  I  needed.  I  even  leaned  cowardly,  for  a 
time,  on  the  weak  framework  of  hope  that  she 
would  not  take  my  few  caresses,  my  perfunctory 
letters,  and  my  one  assurance  that  I  was  go- 
ing to  claim  her  after  college-days  were  over, 
as  a  real  proposal.  This  comfort  only  dipped 
into  my  mind,  however,  to  soar  even  more 
quickly  away.  This  much  I  knew :  Mabel  Harris 
would  never  permit  a  man  to  fold  her  in  his 
arms,  as  she  had  me,  unless  she  understood  it  to 
be  a  sacred  pledge  of  proposed  marriage. 
Upon  this  fact  I  hung  my  one  comfort  in  our 
engagement.  A  wife  as  true-blue  as  Mabel,  and 
as  sweetly  wholesome,  was  more  of  an  acquisi- 
tion, perhaps,  than  one  who  could  soar  on 


252     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

fancy's  wings,  or  display  brilliancy  of  knowl- 
edge. It  was  not  such  a  glowing  comfort,  how- 
ever, as  to  give  me  sufficient  courage  to  return 
home  for  vacations.  Pleading  the  excuse  of 
wishing  to  rush,  and,  if  possible,  excel  to  a 
marked  degree  in  my  legal  studies  (which  was 
true,  as  I  worked  furiously  in  those  days)  I  re- 
mained away  in  cowardly  fashion  two  whole 
years.  My  letters,  too,  grew  miserably  short, 
and  seemed  to  elicit  less  and  less  response, 
though  absolutely  no  reproof  from  Mabel.  I 
even  wondered  if  she  noted  the  difference  in 
their  tone  and  length,  and  chafed  under  the 
question  of  whether  her  lack  of  censure  came 
from  a  dense  stupidity  of  conception  as  to  what 
form  a  real  lover's  letters  should  take,  or  only 
from  that  high  standard  of  dignity  that  refuses 
to  ask  or  yield  explanation.  In  this  matter,  I 
confess,  Mabel  Harris  was  still  a  mystery  to 
me. 

When  upon  a  bright  June  morning,  after  two 
years  of  absence,  I  returned  home,  however,  and 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     253 

went  out  almost  immediately  to  Mabel 's,  I  found 
her  waiting  for  me  at  the  stile — just  the  same 
smiling,  energetic,  whole-souled  girl,  evidently 
in  nowise  intending  to  blame  me  for  my  long 
stay  or  my  indifference  of  letters.  I  had  told 
her  I  was  fearfully  busy — that  was  enough  to 
satisfy  her,  she  gave  me  to  understand  in  a  few 
practically  worded  breaths.  She  too  had  been 
rushed ;  for  Betty  was  growing  so  feeble  she  had 
to  be  helped  more  and  more;  and  she  herself 
was  so  interested  in  her  prosperous  chicken- 
business  that  it  took  much  time  to  figure  out  just 
how  to  make  it  still  more  worth  while — this  was 
all  the  explanation  she  offered  me.  And  as  I 
looked  straight  into  the  trustful  face  of  the 
young  girl  who  accepted  unnatural  conditions 
as  unavoidable,  I  felt  for  the  moment  that  I  had 
been  a  miserable  brute — the  absurd  little  cur, 
criticising  the  ponderous  mastiff.  She  seemed 
now  of  that  largeness  of  soul  and  dignity  that 
can  afford  to  wrap  itself  in  the  mantle  of  utmost 
simplicity.  What  was  higher  education,  fanci- 


254     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

ful  conception,  irritating  investigation  and  rest- 
lessness of  questioning  concerning  the  many 
seemingly  insoluble  problems  of  life  compared 
with  the  big,  sweet,  serene  acceptance  of  what 
must  be,  or  had  already  been,  given  in  as  cheery 
and  unquestioning  a  manner  as  it  is  possible 
to  imagine. 

"Mabel,"  I  cried  under  the  great  relief  and 
joy  of  my  new  discovery  of  her  possibilities, 
"get  your  father  to  come  with  us,  and  let's 
go  right  over  to  the  minister's  now,  our  favor- 
ite way  on  horseback.  I  never  want  to  leave 
you  one  day  or  night  again ! ' ' 

But  she  shook  her  head.  She  was  not  ready 
for  earliest  marriage  as  the  other  little  storm- 
caught  girl!  "Soon,  very  soon,"  she  prom- 
ised. "There  are  many  important  things  yet 
to  settle  for  father's  and  Betty's  comfort." 

And  during  that  fatal  period  of  waiting,  I 
met  what  casts  the  real  blur  of  blurs  over  my 
record — the  Mentally  Brilliant,  and  Physically 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     255 

Beautiful  "Woman — the  woman  that  lures  with 
the  very  daring  of  her  non-conventional  views  I 

Ed,  I  would  to  heaven  that  honesty  would 
permit  me  to  omit  this  last  part ;  but  I  shall  not 
let  myself  waver,  now  I  have  once  set  out. 
When  I  begin  my  search  soon,  I  shall  probably 
find  her  still  the  most  intangible  woman  of  them 
all! 


LETTER  XIX 

Seventh  Report  from  Holland  to  'Aliston. 
The  Lure  of  the  Womcm  of  Non-Conven- 
tional Views.  Ellison  Grove,  November 
Seventeenth. 

DEAR  ED  : 

While  Mabel  looked  after  the  many  matters 
that  had  to  be  settled  before  our  intended  mar- 
riage in  the  fall,  I  indulged  in  the  mistaken 
luxury  of  idling  about  her  father's  extensive 
home-place,  and  reading  a  little  in  preparation 
for  my  entrance  into  the  legal  firm  of  Williston 
&  Williston,  where  I  had  been  offered  a  good 
position  in  the  fall.  For  a  time  I  delighted  in 
watching  my  capable  fiancee,  as  she  moved  from 
house  to  garden  and  from  poultry-yard  to 
apiary  always  with  practical  thoughts  and  words 
regarding  the  matter  in  hand.  Only  during  our 
delightful  horseback  rides  did  our  conversation 
fall  into  intimate  lines.  Then  Mabel  laid  out 

256 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     257 

this  plan  and  that  in  whole-hearted  delight, 
whereby  her  father  was  not  to  be  deserted  en- 
tirely, but  at  each  week  end  visited  by  us,  and 
helped  in  his  constant  improvement  plans. 

"I  will  still  keep  my  chickens  and  bees,"  she 
explained  happily,  "and  each  day  when  our 
city  home  is  in  order,  I  will  ride  over  to  take 
charge  of  them.  That  will  lessen  the  blow  of 
my  leaving,  which  is  going  to  be  hard  enough 
for  Daddy  and  Betty  at  best." 

For  a  time  I  rested  willingly  in  this  wave  of 
sweet  practical  planning  and  administration, 
then  that  inevitable  dissatisfaction  crept  again 
into  my  heart — the  feeling  that  must  come,  no 
matter  how  hard  one  tries  to  love  honestly  and 
wholly,  between  a  nature  prone  to  unquestioning 
content,  and  a  restive  spirit,  educated  by  a  long 
line  of  scholared  ancestry  to  challenge  the  why 
and  the  wherefore  of  everything  in  life.  Un- 
doubtedly my  companionship  with  Mabel  helped 
to  soften  definitely  this  exaggerated  tendency 
in  me ;  but  while  learning  of  her,  I  could  not  but 


258     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

feel,  dully  at  first,  then  vividly  again,  that  we 
•were  miserably  unsuited  to  be  life-mates.  For 
I  scorn  the  doctrine  that  suggests  the  direct  op- 
posite in  temperaments  to  make  a  happy  union. 
Two  streams  running  directly  in  opposition  but 
confined  within  the  same  enclosing  banks  can 
only  end  in  intense  friction  and  the  pushing  out 
of  the  weaker  current  by  the  stronger. 

And,  at  last,  Mabel  actually  stopped  long 
enough  in  her  practical  workings  to  notice  my 
intense  depression.  It  was  a  day  in  early 
September.  On  the  twenty-fifth  of  the  month, 
I  was  to  accept  the  position  offered  me  in  town. 

"Frank,"  she  suggested,  "it  must  be  too 
warm  for  you  here,  or  you  certainly  studied  too 
hard  last  winter.  You  are  looking  utterly  mis- 
erable. Why  don't  you  take  a  turn  bird-hunt- 
ing up  in  the  Maine  or  Wisconsin  woods  before 
you  shut  yourself  into  the  stuffy  office?" 

I  confess  I  welcomed  this  suggestion  with  a 
relief  that  proved  to  me  conclusively  just  how 
eager  I  was  to  escape,  even  for  a  moment,  the 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     259 

present  state  of  ennui.  I  actually  sprang  from 
my  seat  beside  Mabel,  where  we  had  been  sur- 
veying the  depressing  effect  upon  some  robber- 
bees  of  a  new  kind  of  hive-door,  and  told  her  I 
would  take  to  saddle  at  once  and  think  it  over, 
if  she  felt  that  I  could  be  spared  by  her  so  long. 

"Why,  of  course,"  she  smilingly  said,  almost 
amused.  "It  is  for  your  good,  I  am  thinking. 
It  would  be  very  foolish  of  me  to  make  a  rumpus, 
when  it  is  evident  you  need  the  change. ' ' 

The  next  two  hours  I  spent  in  my  favorite 
occupation  of  striding  my  fast  bay — and  how  I 
did  enjoy  this  time  that  left  me  entirely  to  my 
own  thoughts  and  resources!  Once  I  hitched 
my  horse  and  springing  a  fence,  climbed  a  hick- 
ory with  an  avidity  I  had  not  felt  for  years. 
The  nuts  were  only  slightly  touched  by  frost  so 
I  managed  to  shake  down  but  a  few.  These  I 
gathered  most  carefully  in  my  cap;  then  hot 
with  my  unusual  exercise,  I  hurried  my  steps 
toward  a  brook  that  sent  its  contented  murmur 
through  meadow  and  woods,  without  the  hin- 


260     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

drance  of  a  pebble  or  incline  to  stop  its  placid 
course. 

"It  is  just  like  Mabel's  life — just  like  her 
easy,  assured,  unquestioning  grasp  upon  the 
meadow-land  of  existence,"  I  spoke  to  myself 
whimsically,  and  yet,  with  a  touch  of  shame  at 
the  disloyal  nature  of  my  confession. 

"So  it  is,"  a  carefully  toned  voice  answered 
warmly,  "and  you  can  understand  nothing  less 
than  deep  gorges  and  rocky  shores  and  tear- 
ing mountain-streams ! ' ' 

I  looked  up  as  startled  as  though  I  had  been 
summoned  suddenly  into  the  portals  of  a  distant 
sphere.  A  woman,  exquisitely  formed  in  her 
physical  being,  full  of  the  hush  and  the  power 
and  the  mystery  of  a  glory-combine  of  light  and 
shadow  over  mountains,  lifted  brilliant,  chal- 
lenging eyes  to  my  face. 

"How  you  do  like  to  play  the  boy  once  more 
before  you  become  the  practical  humdrum  hus- 
band," she  laughed  gayly.  "You  poor,  poor 
man — I  thought  you  never  would  stop  shaking 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL    261 

those  branches  through  very  joy  of  playing  you 
were  your  own  master — free." 

The  way  she  pronounced  this  last  word  sent 
an  unaccountable  thrill  through  my  being.  It 
was  spoken  easily,  but  seemed  to  possess 
fathomless  possibilities — a  daring  of  thought, 
a  defiance  of  binding  laws,  an  assured  relief 
from  any  possible  ennui.  I  should  have  re- 
sented the  personal  nature  of  her  mockery.  In- 
stead I  welcomed  it. 

"Come,"  she  said,  patting  the  leaves  at  her 
side,  and  rising  into  sitting  posture,  for  she  had 
been  stretched  almost  her  full  length  close  to  the 
trunk  of  a  vigorous  maple.  Only  the  slight  lift- 
ing of  her  beautiful  head  against  this  prop 
saved  the  conventions.  "Come,  Boy,  let  us  be 
merry  and  children  a  moment  together;  for  the 
time  is  short!" 

"Are  you — does  what  you  call  'freedom*  end 
for  you,  too,  soon  then?"  I  questioned.  I  re- 
sented the  idea,  irrationally  enough,  even  as  I 
took  the  proffered  seat  most  willingly. 


262     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

She  laughed  again  with  an  enjoyment  that 
sent  every  muscle  and  tissue  of  her  full,  strong 
throat  and  chest  into  vigorous  action.  "Oh, 
never!"  she  protested.  "And  I  am  not  even 
going  to  tell  you  that  I  have  had  many  oppor- 
tunities. I  know  though  that  somewhere, 
nicely  smuggled  out  of  our  family-tree  record, 
some  ancestor  must  have  been  imprisoned  for 
life !  The  reaction — the  protest  against  the  un- 
justness  of  fetters  has  been  born  in  fiercest  fury 
in  me.  I  smother  under  dictation,  suffocate 
under  rules  and  laws ;  grow  delirious  under  plan- 
ning and  must-bes !  I  take  my  lessons  from  the 
grandest  teachers  I  can  find  in  nature — the  dash- 
ing, defiant  cataracts,  the  forest  in  a  blaze,  the 
ocean  in  a  fierce,  wild  storm."  She  lifted  her 
vividly  sensitive  face,  and  flashed  it  just  an  in- 
stant near  mine  in  challenge — "Does  all  that 
sound  to  you  like  married  life,  Frank  Orison 
Holland!  God  pity  the  man  that  tries  to  con- 
fine me ! " 

1 '  Does  marriage  necessarily  mean  confinement 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     263 

of  views — fetters ! "  I  protested,  realizing  per- 
fectly now  that  this  was  Elinor  Phelps,  of  whose 
beauty  and  growing  success  in  the  writing  line 
I  had  heard  frequent  rumors.  Through  the 
very  freshness  and  daring  of  her  views  she  had 
already  won  for  herself,  so  I  understood,  an  en- 
viable coterie  of  admirers.  I  realized  readily 
now  how  easy  it  would  be  to  fall  into  the  sway 
of  her  unusual  personality,  and  to  be  willing  to 
be  borne  along  on  the  current  of  her  brilliantly 
phrased  ideas  and  fancies.  In  other  words,  I 
felt  definitely  that  I  had  never  yet  met  a  woman 
whom  I  would  more  gladly  choose  to  fill  the  role 
of  comrade  in  all  sports,  big,  novel,  daring,  out- 
doors ;  or  to  whom  I  could  turn  more  hopefully 
for  an  instant  of  relief  in  a  moment  of  intoler- 
able ennui. 

But  Elinor  Phelps  was  answering  my  ques- 
tion in  a  sympathetic,  soft-toned  voice  that  sug- 
gested closest  intimacy  with  all  the  pleasant 
sounds  of  Mother  Nature.  "Does  marriage 
mean  fetters!  Yes,  when  two  natures,  utterly 


264     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

unsuited,  try  desperately  hard  to  dovetail,  and 
— oh,  you  need  not  interrupt  me,  sir,  to  tell  me 
not  to  deal  with  personalities.  I  am  treading 
upon  no  more  dangerous  ground  than  gener- 
ality. For  you  know  yourself  it  is  so,  nine  times 
out  of  ten — ninety-nine  times  out  of  a  hundred. 
The  one  great  exception — " 

* '  ' The  one  great  exception T*  "  I  urged  for  she 
had  stopped  short  to  break  a  handful  of  wild 
grass  and  twist  it  into  fantastic  shape. 

She  shrugged  her  fine  shoulders  in  dismissal. 
"Oh,  you  know  it — or  you  wouldn't  be  you. 
What's  the  use  of  going  into  the  details  that  so 
few  can  understand?"  Then  with  that  flash  of 
moods  that  rendered  her  doubly  fascinating, 
she  tossed  the  grass  aside  with  the  heightened 
color  of  a  very  angry  child.  Her  dark  eyes 
blazed  scorn  at  my  assumed  or  real  lack  of  com- 
prehension. "The  one  exception,  in  spite  of 
the  affinity-scoffing,  is  when  two  souls  are  made 
just  for  each  other.  When  one  rushes  through 
the  woods  and  holds  out  one's  arms  and  calls 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     265 

and  calls  for  his  own  special  one;  and  it  is  so 
again,  only  in  a  hushed  longing,  when  he  stands 
on  the  mountain-top  in  evening  shadow  alone; 
or  when  he  hears  the  especially  sweet  cry  of  a 
bird  that  strikes  out  into  space;  when,  too,  he 
is  in  the  midst  of  big  surging  crowds,  and  yet 
thinks  only  of  her — longs  only  for  her — calls 
and  calls  with  all  his  soul-power  for  her  till — " 

Again  I  prompted,  fearful  that  the  girl  who 
was  evidently  under  great  excitement  would 
rob  me  of  her  climactic  thought. 

She  bent  suddenly  near  me,  almost  touch- 
ing my  cheek  with  her  own  beautiful  flushed 
face,  then  as  quickly  withdrawing  from  me. 
"Till  he  finds  her  at  last,"  she  almost  whis- 
pered. "Till  he  has  to  come  into  his  own 
through  the  very  force  of  his  longing  and  wait- 
ing and  calling!" 

"God!"  I  said  involuntarily,  and  even  as  I 
uttered  the  word  the  blue  sky  became  a  stretch 
of  leaden  curtains,  * '  what  a  soul-love  that  would 
be!  I  have  felt  it — always — always  in  my  in- 


266     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

tense  restlessness;  but  you  have  put  it  into 
words  at  last — and — broken  my  heart." 

She  sprang  up  then  with  a  gayety  that  I  re- 
sented, at  this  moment,  and  began  hunting  for 
her  riding-whip  that  she  had  tossed  carelessly 
into  the  grass.  "Come,"  she  said  practically, 
"it  is  high  time  to  be  going  or  we  shall  shortly 
run  agreement  into  quarreling.  Broken  hearts 
indeed!  I  never  saw  one  yet  that  couldn't  be 
mended — just  when  the  next  dear  girl  comes 
along.  And  you,  why  you  don't  even  have  to 
wait  for  that.  You  have  your  lovely  old  ro- 
mantic home  to  comfort  you,  and  your  fine  posi- 
tion— for,  of  course,  Dame  Rumor  has  told  us 
about  all  that.  And  when  you  are  tired  of 
grandeur  and  fame,  you  can  ride  peacefully  on 
with  your  wife  to  the  farm,  to  count  the  new 
chickens,  and  oversee  the  packing  of  rosy  ap- 
ples and  huge  cases  of  non-storage  eggs.  Oh, 
you  are  a  fortunate,  fortunate  man!" 

"Am  I?"  I  flashed  back  in  the  shameful 
weakness  of  involuntary  confession  that  she 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL    267 

had  induced  in  me  from  the  start.  "Yes,  so 
fortunate  that  I  am  escaping  to-night  for  a 
fortnight  in  the  northern  woods  that  I  may 
better  have  quiet  to  think  over — the — great — 
joy  of  my — prospects!" 

Never  had  I  seen  a  woman  change  so  com- 
pletely in  a  moment.  The  laughter  died  out  of 
her  face  and  with  it  every  trace  of  mockery; 
her  eyes  filled  with  a  great  mist  of  longing.  She 
threw  the  reins  over  her  horse's  neck  and  led 
him  a  few  steps  nearer.  "Do  you  really  mean 
it?"  she  cried  exultant  with  an  excitement  that 
I  could  not  then  understand.  "The  northern 
woods — with  its  dear  little  lakes  and  its  con- 
fusing trails  and  its  glorious  trees,  and  its  piti- 
ful show  of  burned  spaces,  full  of  men,  strong, 
real  men,  reforesting!  Oh,  take  me  with  you! 
It  will  just  be  a  fortnight,  and  then  I  will  go 
utterly  out  of  your  life.  You  have  your  work 
and  marriage,  I  my  little  special  call."  She 
threw  out  a  hand  and  laid  it  with  a  touch  of  ap- 
peal on  my  arm.  "We  would  make  the  best 


268     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

comrades  in  the  world — just  chums,  fine  platonic 
friends.  I  have  longed  to  try  out  a  theory  of 
mine  to  the  utmost.  But  I  had  not  found  the 
man  I  could  fully  trust — till  now.  I  scorn  the 
idea  that  our  neighbors'  laws  should  be  ours, 
or  ours  theirs.  One  can  live  in  all  purity  un- 
der cool  judgment.  There  are  dozens  of  little 
shacks  scattered  through  the  Wisconsin  woods, 
between  Star  Lake  and  Shreiner  Lake,  as  you 
know.  I  could  take  one  very,  very  close  to 
yours.  We  could  spend  the  glorious  days  and 
evenings  in  tramps  and  fishing  and  reading — 
Say  you  will  let  down  the  bars  just  a  little — 
just  for  a  fortnight.  Holland,  ask  me  to  come." 
For  the  moment  I  struggled  hard  with  an  un- 
accountable longing  to  accept  the  challenge; 
but  I  framed  my  words  coolly.  "Impossible," 
I  said.  "It  is  not  my  privilege  to  choose,  even 
though  I  might  like  to  venture.  Some  odd 
mood  has  come  over  you,  a  mood  that  makes 
you  do  injustice  to  your  own  fine  nature.  In  an 
hour,  even  though  I  agreed,  you  would  utterly 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     269 

refuse.  Besides,  if  you  were  able  to  do  as  you 
suggest  in  a  platonic  way  only,  where  do  you 
think  I  would  be!  I  am  not  so  sure  of  myself. 
Theory  passes  at  odd  moments  into  opposite 
reality.  Neither  am  I  confident  that  I  scorn 
convention  as  thoroughly  as  you  say  you  do — 
though  I  sometimes  chafe  under  a  restlessness 
of  bondage  that  I  can  not  and  will  not  analyze. 
Even  the  strongest  of  us  are  weak  when  it  comes 
to  untried  fields.  There  will  always  be  the  lure 
of  the  Eve-suggested  apples.  They  are  dan- 
gerous at  best,  from  their  very  power  to  lure ! ' ' 

Elinor  Phelps  lifted  eyes  full  of  utter  distress 
rather  than  the  anger  I  fully  expected.  "Oh," 
she  cried,  and  her  beautiful  quivering  face,  with 
its  framing  of  thick  dark  hair,  reminded  me  of 
clear  fountain  waters  suddenly  wind-tossed,  er- 
rant, at  the  approach  of  an  unexpected  storm. 

"Then  you  think  I  couldn't  do  it— that  I 
wouldn't  live  pure  and  sweet — that  I  am  just 
a  bold,  wicked  woman !  You  are  not  big  enough 
to  understand  that  freedom  of  views  is  not  rank- 


270     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

ness;  that  only  gross  minds  weaken  because 
they  can!" 

"No,  I  believe  you  are  in  earnest  about  the 
theory  try-out,"  I  answered,  not  trusting  my- 
self with  any  length  of  expression. 

"But  you  don't  want  my  company!"  She 
drew  her  hand  across  her  horse's  neck  rest- 
lessly, then  let  it  drop  heavily  at  her  side. 
' '  When  I  promise  you  truly  that  I  shall  go  for- 
ever out  of  your  life.  When  I  only  want  to 
try  out  something  that  would  be  of  infinite 
value  in  my  writing.  When  you  are  restless 
and  nervous  and  tired,  and  ought  not  to  go  up 
in  the  vast,  lonesome,  glorious  woods  alone. 
When  you  need  a  comrade  that  understands  all 
things  practically  and  calmly  and  yet  sympa- 
thetically. When  you  know  all  this  as  well  as  I 
do — still  you  won't  let  down  the  bars,  just  a  bit, 
to  ask  me  through  T ' ' 

Ed,  you  remember  the  great  English  preacher 
who  said  at  our  church  a  few  years  ago  that 
life  holds  for  every  man  one  searching  test  of 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     271 

the  sincerity  of  his  religious  life;  and  that  al- 
though the  test  is  often  absurdly  trivial,  to  en- 
counter it  is  to  ''fall  from  grace."  I  thought 
then  that  no  such  test  would  ever  enter  my  life 
— but  it  came  in  full  blast  that  day  when  Elinor 
Phelps  made  her  daring  request. 

For  a  time  I  stood  motionless,  unable  to  think, 
to  comply  or  to  refuse.  The  sunlight,  reflected 
upon  us  from  the  hilltops,  gave  no  sign  of  being 
shocked,  but  magnetized  Elinor  into  a  creature 
of  radiant  beauty  and  unusual  strength  and 
purity  of  countenance.  Then  as  my  mind 
clutched  little  by  little  upon  consecutive 
thoughts,  I  reasoned  thus :  After  all  what  was 
the  proof  that  no  exception  could  be  sanely 
made !  Could  it  not  be  that  if  two  persons  un- 
derstood a  situation  perfectly,  and  were  simply 
adopting  the  unusual,  the  world  had  no  right 
to  dictate  T  New  and  free  views  were  springing 
up  everywhere  about  us.  If  this  lovely  girl, 
whose  society  no  man  could  help  liking,  was 
anxious  to  try  out  something  to  be  produced  in 


272     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

a  book  under  clever  disguise  later;  if  she  were 
willing  to  take  the  risk — And,  then,  of  course 
she  did  not  really  mean  a  word  of  it.  She 
would  not  really  dare.  She  only  wanted,  fem- 
inine-like,  to  gain  the  point  of  my  consent! 
Why  not  humor  her  for  the  pleasant  time  she 
had  given  me! 

Elinor,  with  her  keen  vision,  read  each  step 
that  sent  wavering  lines  over  my  puzzled  face. 
"Ah,  you  will  let  me  be  your  little  comrade — 
just  for  two  weeks?"  she  breathed  softly,  with 
such  a  happy  sigh  of  content. 

Then  I  resisted  no  more.  Longing  inordi- 
nately, and  yet  not  daring  to  believe  even  yet 
that  she  would ;  borne  along  tumultuously  with 
the  novelty  of  her  views,  but  each  instant  ex- 
pecting the  retrieval  and  mocking  laugh,  as  she 
deplored  my  stupidity  in  thinking  her  serious — 
I  accepted  her  challenge — and  let  down  the 
bars! 

"It's  all  up  to  you  now,  Elinor,"  I  said 
gravely.  ' '  I  have  told  you  what  I  thought.  It 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     273 

was  not  easy  to  do  it.  Now  I  shall  not  say  an- 
other word. ' ' 

She  came  toward  me,  her  face  radiant,  both 
hands  outstretched,  taking  my  statement  for 
complete  acceptance.  "Oh,  you  fine,  big  trust- 
worthy man,"  she  applauded.  "You  shall 
never  forget  our  two  weeks  of  experiment. 
They  shall  always  be  one  of  the  red-letter  times 
of  life  in  your  memory — for  neither  of  us  will 
spoil  or  break  the  trust!" 

I  could  not  trust  myself  in  my  delirious  ex- 
citement with  any  answer  other  than  the  strictly 
practical.  I  drew  out  my  watch.  "The  train 
leaves  Union  Station  at  5:30.  On  the  third 
track.  When  and  where  shall  I  meet  you?" 

"Right  there,"  she  laughed  gayly.  Then  as 
she  sprang  to  her  saddle  before  I  could  make  the 
faintest  motion  to  aid  her,  she  called  out  several 
clear  directions.  "I  never  miss  a  train;  so  you 
must  not.  You  will  find  me  there  for  sure.  But 
don't  stop  to  help  me  on.  I  will  have  my 
ticket,  and  get  a  porter  to  carry  my  suit-cases. 


274     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

Only  when  we  are  well  out,  you  can  stroll  up  to 
my  seat  and  meet  me  as  an  old  acquaintance.  I 
will  take  care  of  the  rest.  Do  you  understand 
just  how  to  act?" 

"I  think  I  have  fathomed  the  directions,"  I 
assured  her,  still  amazed  that  the  venture  really 
was  in  order,  still  pondering  whether  after  all 
this  was  not  some  lively  play  in  which  she  had 
me  completely  duped. 

"And  one  thing  more,"  she  directed,  as  she 
straightened  her  fine  form  ready  for  a  quick 
dash  away,  "platonic  friends  never,  never  pay 
for  each  other.  Do  not  take  one  cent  over  what 
you  had  planned.  In  the  end,  or  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, we  will  divide  the  expense  of  the  trip  in 
halves,  a  share  for  each  of  us.  Do  you  agree?" 

"I  agree,  though  that  part  is  entirely  unneces- 
sary," I  answered  again  mechanically.  For 
now  that  the  bars  were  down,  I  did  not  mean 
to  hold  up  one  splinter  to  intercept  her  plans ! 

She  nodded,  pleased,  and  sent  her  horse  in  a 
swift  leap  over  the  bar-fence.  Then  on  the  top 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     275 

of  a  little  slope,  just  outside  the  rails,  she  drew 
him  in,  turning  in  her  saddle  to  point  with  her 
whip-handle  toward  the  sunset  blaze. 

"See,  Holland,"  she  exulted,  "it  is  gold,  pure 
gold — just  as  our  friendship  shall  be — and  only 
a  moment  before  I  thought  them  heavy  leaden 
clouds!  You  won't  forget!" 

"I  can't  forget,"  I  answered.  "I  will  be 
there  first." 

When  I  entered  Union  Station  at  5:15  that 
evening,  my  glance  wandered  at  once  over  the 
usual  rush  of  passengers,  toward  or  away  from 
the  sentineled  gates,  refusing  to  credit  the  fact 
that  Elinor  Phelps  would  be  one  of  them,  yet 
hoping  with  shameless  intensity  that  she  might. 
When  the  ladies'  waiting-room  had  been  thor- 
oughly scanned  and  each  gate-crowd  investi- 
gated, I  resigned  myself  most  unwillingly  to  the 
necessary  conclusion.  I  had  forgotten  in  my 
excitement  her  scheduled  plan.  It  had  all  been 
a  little  side-play,  then,  and  Elinor  Phelps  was 
probably  now  at  her  desk,  scratching  away  at 


276     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

the  story  or  farce  that  was  affording  her  im- 
mense pleasure,  in  showing  how  easily  even  a 
twice-graduated,  supposedly  world-wise  man 
could  be  duped. 

The  passengers  were  the  usual  collection  of 
rich  idlers,  restlessly  directing  the  porter  to  put 
up  this  and  that,  and  expecting  him  to  wait  on 
their  special  case  or  cases  first  in  every  instance. 
I  settled  down  at  once  in  my  assigned  corner  of 
the  comfortable  Vestibule  Limited,  and  tried  to 
throw  my  attention  from  the  unreasonable  fuss- 
ings  of  a  bediamonded  old  lady  to  my  magazine- 
story.  The  plot  was  a  little  out  of  the  usual,  I 
think,  for  the  train  had  been  out  of  the  station 
ten  minutes  before  I  looked  up  suddenly  and 
marked  at  the  other  end  of  the  car,  a  waving 
and  gleam  of  luxuriant  hair  that  could  belong 
to  but  one  head — that  of  Elinor  Phelps. 

Oh,  if  the  little  boy  who  fishes  on  Sunday  only 
would  fall  into  the  stream,  instead  of  getting  an 
extra  supply  of  prisoners ;  if  a  train  only  could 
be  wrecked  just  as  one  advances  to  misdeed,  in- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL    277 

stead  of  rolling  on  sumptuously,  pleasantly  hum- 
ming on  costly  planned  wheels,  and  tracks— 
what  a  complete  defeat  his  Satanic  Majesty 
would  often  have  to  endure — but  it  is  because 
man  is  a  creature  permitted  to  follow  his  own 
impulses,  because  soft  lights  and  sweet  music 
and  luxurious  surroundings  and  beautiful 
women  are  ever  present  to  lend  their  lure  to  his 
warped  conception  concerning  the  possible  pro- 
priety of  his  daring,  that  the  King  of  the  Dark- 
ened Regions  can  laugh  on  and  on  at  his  start- 
lingly  frequent  and  often  most  unexplainable 
victories. 

I  confess  my  feet  bore  me  most  eagerly  along 
the  narrow  aisle  to  the  side  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful woman  I  had  ever  met.  And  while  Elinor 
Phelps  had  looked  most  charming  in  her  riding- 
costume,  she  was  a  Radiant  Lure  in  a  black 
tailor-made  traveling-suit,  and  snug  velvet  hat, 
with  its  only  trimming  a  daring  white  bow,  leap- 
ing from  her  rounded  neck  to  becoming  height 
of  background.  Collar  and  cuffs  of  white  lace, 


278     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

relieved  any  possible  severity ;  a  blood-red  rose 
lent  the  touch  of  needed  color. 

When  I  reached  her  side,  and  stood  for  the 
instant  silent,  Elinor  Phelps  held  out  a  cordial 
hand.  "Why,  Mr.  Pendleton,"  she  exclaimed, 
addressing  me  by  a  foreign  name  evidently  with 
clever  desire  to  shield  any  squeamish  views  I 
might  still  retain,  "how  did  you  ever  find  time 
to  rush  away  from  business  for  a  northern 
trip ! ' '  She  made  room  for  me  at  once,  and  her 
brilliant,  expressive  eyes,  challenged  me  to  take 
up  the  assistance  she  had  graciously  lent. 

I  did,  taking  a  seat  at  her  side  instantly  and 
most  gladly. 

For  a  time  I  listened  to  the  happy  conversa- 
tion of  a  woman  who  leapt  from  gay  fancy  to 
compelling  pathos  in  a  breath ;  and  handled  the 
subject  of  the  latest  book  or  play  as  logically  as 
she  discussed  the  doings  of  the  old  Romans,  or 
the  power  or  absurdity  of  a  present  bill  in  con- 
gress. I  was  watching  all  the  time  for  some 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     279 

sign  of  slight  embarrassment  or  excitement,  in- 
duced by  the  odd  circumstances  of  the  moment ; 
but  not  one  waver  of  regret  or  discomfort  came. 
After  we  had  talked  for  one  of  the  shortest 
hours  I  had  ever  known,  Elinor  pronounced  her- 
self ravenously  hungry;  and  immediately  we 
answered  the  "last  call  for  dinnah"  in  the  dis- 
tant dining-car.  Again  I  found  myself  sinking 
deeper  and  deeper  into  the  restless  enjoyment 
of  the  moment ;  for  though  Elinor  had  been  de- 
lightfully attractive  and  entertaining  in  the 
other  car,  she  was  now  superb  in  the  soft  light 
of  the  chandeliers — pond-lilies  bursting  their 
very  golden  hearts  open  to  enclose  individual 
lamps.  She  kept  the  sugar-bowl  and  creamer 
by  her  side,  now  and  then  inquiring  into  my 
wants  in  this  direction,  and  serving  me  with  a 
dainty  solicitousness  that  seemed  to  call  up  from 
an  indefinite  past — a  sweet,  cruelly  elusive  past 
— familiarity  with  exactly  such  conditions.  I 
wondered  if  I  had  committed  some  great  sin  in 


280     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

a  preexistent  state  that  I  had  been  swept  away 
from  such  a  privilege,  and  now,  given  a  second 
chance,  was  going  to  fall  again ! 

But  while  I  laughed  and  talked  and  tried  to 
meet  Elinor  Phelps '  brilliant  mental  flashes  with 
greater  joy  in  just  existing  than  I  had  ever  ex- 
perienced, I  was  also  chafing  furiously  under 
the  thought  of  how  I  was  hopelessly  tied  to  a 
woman  whose  range  of  vision,  if  one  were  to 
judge  by  her  conversation,  seemed  never  to 
penetrate  beyond  the  strictly  conventional  and 
practical.  I  was  still  in  this  maze  of  delight  and 
despair  when  we  finally  left  the  diner  for  a  sug- 
gested game  of  cards.  Again  Elinor  showed 
herself  so  skillful  in  handling  the  game,  that 
when  she  threw  down  her  hand  at  last,  I  begged 
for  an  hour  or  two  more  of  play  in  which  to  re- 
deem myself,  but  this  she  would  not  grant. 

"No!"  she  insisted,  as  she  called  the  porter 
and  gave  orders  for  her  berth  to  be  made  at 
once,  "I  am  a  long  way  ahead  now.  I  always 
know  just  where  to  quit !  Besides  I  am  always 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     281 

fearfully  sleepy  on  the  train  by  eight.  It  is  ten 
now.  If  you  get  up  real  early,  however — no 
later  than  7 :30 — I  will  let  you  join  me  at  break- 
fast, though  that  is  usually  the  time  I  am  glean- 
ing my  plots.  Persons  are  so  much  themselves 
then  without  the  cunning  or  deception  of  later 
hours.  I  fancy  we  shall  be  crossing  the  Wis- 
consin border  into  the  glorious  woods  just  about 
that  time." 

When  we  arrived  at  Star  Lake,  a  little  late 
the  next  morning,  we  found  we  were  the  only 
passengers  that  had  come  out  for  mere  sport. 
It  was  still  early  for  the  bird-hunting,  and  sev- 
eral months  ahead  of  deer-shooting,  but  the 
bracing  air  and  the  burst  of  wild-cherry  foliage 
into  autumn  flame  lent  a  fascination  to  the  quiet 
that  seized  upon  us  at  once. 

It  was  only  the  matter  of  a  moment  or  two  for 
Elinor  to  choose  our  guide — a  big,  gaunt  Swede, 
Lunquist  by  name,  whose  gaze  ferreted  dis- 
creetly upon  tent-poles  and  fishing-rods,  and 
whose  prodigious  frame  promised  comfortable 


282     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

interposition  between  us  and  any  unexpected 
danger,  no  matter  how  formidable.  Through 
Lunquist's  slowly  uttered  but  practical  direc- 
tions, we  learned  that  the  huge  " musky*'  we 
most  desired  to  capture  could  be  obtained  in 
greatest  quantity  if  we  pushed  a  day's  journey 
on  horseback  through  the  denser  woods,  up 
toward  Shreiner  Lake  and  Boyle  Lake,  where 
there  were  several  comfortable  shacks,  each 
with  a  big  fireplace, "  and  very  near  one  another, 
in  case  my  wife  desired  a  little  more  room  than 
the  single  apartment,  and  big  porch  that  the 
plan  of  each  single  shack,  afforded." 

Ed,  you  have  been  countless  times  over  these 
and  wilder  grounds  in  your  love  for  game- 
hunting. — I  shall  waste  no  time  in  description 
of  our  stay  in  the  woods.  We  walked  and 
hunted  and  gaffed  the  struggling  "musky"  for 
many  delightful  hours.  We  visited  the  stray 
Indian  camps  and  ordered  moccasins,  soft  and 
beaded  gayly,  which  we  wore  frequently  in  our 
walks  over  the  pine-strewn  or  sandy  trails.  We 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL    283 

read  aloud  in  the  midst  of  nature's  most  gentle 
and  alluring  songs  and  whispers.  We  piled  the 
huge  stones,  and  aided  Lunquist  in  his  prepara- 
tion of  the  finest  feasts  that  can  possibly  be 
spread  before  man — bacon  broiled  on  hot  stones, 
coffee  steeped  lazily  in  shiny  tins,  sandwiches, 
whose  secrets  of  composition  our  silent,  atten- 
tive guide  alone  knew.  And  all  that  time  Elinor 
Phelps  acted  the  platonic  friend  with  an  ease 
and  grace,  that  I,  under  the  power  of  her  bril- 
liance and  beauty,  was  far  from  feeling !  I  had 
agreed  to  her  trying  an  experiment,  and  I  meant 
to  keep  my  part  of  the  contract  if  possible.  All 
the  while  I  chafed  furiously,  however,  under  her 
calmness  and  the  belief  that  it  was  simply  an 
experiment — that  it  could  never  be  anything 
else — that  even  though  my  non-conventional 
companion  should  learn  to  care  herself,  my  re- 
lation with  Mabel  Harris  would  make  impos- 
sible what  I  now  imagined  I  wanted  more  than 
anything  else  on  earth  or  in  heaven — to  marry 
Elinor  Phelps. 


284     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

One  evening,  that  of  the  twelfth  day  of  our 
journey  into  the  woods,  Elinor  reminded  me 
that  I  had  shamelessly  neglected  the  matter  of 
my  mail.  "We  must  go  for  it  this  very  after- 
noon, Ory,"  she  expostulated,  "and  go  our- 
selves, because  'Lunny*  is  always  so  hugely 
slow.  The  sky  is  a  little  gray,  so  there  will  be  a 
very  quick  fall  of  night.  Let's  not  trust  our- 
selves to  the  wriggly  trails.  Suppose  we  take 
the  boat." 

"The  trip  will  be  delightful,"  I  agreed  most 
promptly,  * '  but  the  errand  is  useless  enough.  I 
have  a  pitiful  scarcity  of  relatives  these  days, 
and  when  Mabel  sees  me  well  started  in  a  plan, 
she  gives  herself  up  comfortably  to  the  next  sub- 
ject in  hand,  taking  it  for  granted  that  since 
there  is  no  visible  evidence  of  harm  hovering 
about  me,  there  can  be  no  possible  danger  of  my 
not  coming  out  unscathed." 

We  were  at  the  end  of  the  little  path  now,  that 
led  between  a  tall  enclosure  of  pines.  At  the 
wharf,  improvised  out  of  a  few  old  boards,  our 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     285 

boat  rocked  idly.  As  I  helped  Elinor  in,  and 
made  the  leap  that  the  choppy  waves  demanded 
when  once  the  boat  was  loosed,  Elinor  seemed 
suddenly  to  become  aware  of  what  I  had  said. 
''Merciful  heavens,  is  that  love!"  she  sighed 
whimsically.  "It  seems  to  me  that  if  I  ever 
cared  for  any  one,  I  would  haunt  the  post-office 
constantly.  Indeed  I  think  I  would  even  apply 
strenuously  for  a  position  as  postmistress  that 
I  might  grasp  my  lover's  letter  the  first  as  it 
tumbled  out  of  the  mail-bag.  And  if  he  were  in 
the  woods  and  I  didn't  hear  every  day — every 
day,  I  should  be  tormented  past  endurance  with 
the  thought  that  a  big  tree  might  have  fallen 
on  him,  or  a  vagrant  lion  performed  the  unusual 
trick  of  wandering  from  tropic  zones  toward 
frigid  climes!" 

"And  if  you  did  not  hear  upon  the  second 
day?"  I  ventured.  We  were  a  distance  out 
now.  The  darker  clouds  parted  just  a  bit  and 
let  out  the  glittering  stream  of  rose  and  gold  and 
lavender  light  that  falls  each  fair  evening  in 


286     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

caress  over  the  hearts  of  the  glorious  pond- 
lilies.  This  time  the  beautiful  sunset  lights 
hesitated,  however,  just  long  enough  to  kiss  the 
soft  hair  and  the  sweet  face  of  the  woman,  whose 
glance  was  afar  off  in  dreaming,  her  hands  drag- 
ging the  water  and  touching  absently  one 
glistening  lily-pad  after  the  other. 

"Oh,  if  I  did  not  hear  the  second  day,"  she 
spoke  at  last,  "I  would  leave  all  the  letters  un- 
delivered. I  would  spring  from  my  seat  even 
though  the  penitentiary  were  the  sure  outcome ; 
I  would  not  even  wait  to  get  a  substitute;  I 
would  just  run  on  and  on,  holding  out  my  arms, 
calling  to  him  to  wait,  to  live  till  I  could  reach 
him,  following  the  sounds,  the  instincts  that  only 
the  soul  desperately  in  love  can  feel — until  I — 
came  to  him — at  last,  to  save  him  or  if  too  late, 
to  go  with  him  into  the  great  new  venture." 

There  was  but  one  answer  I  could  give  to  this, 
Ed.  It  was  not  the  words  alone,  but  the  voice, 
the  manner,  the  intensity  of  soul.  I  threw  down 
my  oars  and  buried  my  head  in  my  hands. 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     287 

"Elinor  Phelps,"  I  denounced  bitterly,  "you 
are  by  far  the  most  cruel  type  of  woman  that 
earth  or  even  hell  can  hold — to  tell  me  this!" 

For  a  wonder  she  did  not  resent  my  mood  in 
the  slightest,  but  her  own  changed  at  once  into 
utmost  practicality.  "Here,  give  me  the  oars," 
she  said,  "you  are  tired.  And  Ory,"  she  hur- 
ried on,  "you  must  not  talk  so;  you  must  stick 
to  our  contract.  We  must  not  even  think.  We 
must  just  live,  live  the  glorious  present.  I 
could  not  bear  it,  if — if  either  of  us  should  fail 
miserably  in  the  noble  comradeship  we've 
found.  The  two  weeks  are  nearly  up  now.  Oh, 
Ory,  please,  please  let's  prove  the  mistake  of  a 
convention  that  has  become  almost  a  fetishism 
in  the  conventional  world.  Let  us  prove  that 
one  can  be  as  true  and  steadfast  under  free 
views  as  when  locked  in  his  neighbor's  dictates 
as  to  action !  Listen,  Ory ;  I  will  not  have  it  any 
other  way!" 

It  was  the  last  day  of  our  fortnight  of  rest, 
and  answering  the  cry  which  only  a  brute  re- 


288     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

fuses  to  respect,  my  attitude  toward  Elinor  be- 
came more  guarded  and  platonic  in  expression 
if  possible  after  our  trip  into  town  for  the  letter 
that  did  not  come,  than  it  had  been  before.  We 
talked  frankly  and  without  sentiment.  "We  told 
each  other  that  we  had  grasped  and  confined  a 
truth  that,  later,  must  force  itself  upon  a  now 
oddly  blind,  law-hampered  world.  We  reveled 
in  the  lessons  of  freedom  taught  by  the  dash  of 
the  cataracts,  the  toss  of  the  waves,  the  proud 
towering  of  the  forest  trees.  We  ignored  the 
laws  that  held  within  bounds  the  plunge  of  the 
falls;  the  shores  that  confined  the  waters,  the 
roots  that  made  firm  the  trees.  We  even  be- 
came so  weak  as  to  speak  of  the  odd  dullness  of 
minds  that  were  content  to  labor  year  after  year 
at  the  same  desk  in  the  same  musty  office ;  of  the 
mothers  that  inhabited  cheerfully  the  tiny  cot- 
tages; of  the  masculine  hearts  that  could  glad- 
den at  the  possible  annual  advance  of  $12.33  in 
salary ;  of  the  maternal  soul,  again,  that  saw  its 
only  excitement  in  deciding  whether  Mary's 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     289 

dress  should  be  planned  in  plait  or  tuck  style, 
or  whether  Johnny's  hat  could  be  blocked  and 
made  to  run  a  third-year  course ! 

And  then — upon  the  last  evening  of  our  stay 
at  Shreiner  Lake — even  as  Lunquist  packed 
stolidly  the  few  trappings  we  had  brought,  evi- 
dently as  content  to  leave  as  to  come,  the  real 
test  of  our  insistently  tried  theory  hit  upon  us ; 
as  it  must  sooner  or  later  to  any  mortal  building 
upon  precarious  sands.  And  by  its  coming  left 
us  almost  stranded — with  eyes  opened  by  sheer 
compulsion  at  last  to  the  bitterness  and  false- 
ness and  perfect  inexcusableness  of  what  we  had 
done. 

It  began  pouring  early  in  the  evening,  and  at 
once  the  trees,  from  the  tallest  pines  to  the  tiny 
wild-cherry,  took  on  that  air  of  utter  desolation 
that  only  a  rain-swept  woods  can  know. 
Startled  birds  and  bats  flew  here  and  there  aim- 
lessly; despicable-tempered  owls  hooted  deri- 
sively at  the  birth  of  any  or  all  optimism ;  a  por- 
cupine, dragging  its  soaked,  slow  body  from  the 


290     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

dripping  hazel-bushes,  took  refuge,  with  rasp- 
ing, irritating  scraping  of  quills,  directly  upon 
my  roof.  In  the  distance,  coyotes  sent  forth  a 
howling  protest  against  having  to  hunt  prey 
amid  such  gloom.  Even  the  prey  itself  gave 
evidence  of  dismay  at  being  pursued  at  such  a 
moment.  And  worst  of  all  dismal  touches, 
from  the  shed  where  our  ponies  were  sheltered 
came  the  dull  blow  of  Lunquist  's  hammer,  much 
resembling  some  interring  act,  and  the  weird 
half -chant,  half -monotone,  of  the  big  Swede's 
one  unvarying  selection:  " Darling,  I  am  gro- 
6-ing  6-6-oldt — Silver  treads — " 

It  was  Elinor  that  broke  into  actual  trembling 
at  last,  showing  in  her  actions  the  fear  of  a  weak 
woman  for  the  first  time  since  I  had  known  her. 
We  were  taking  supper  at  the  time  in  her  cabin, 
a  delicious  game  menu,  prepared  most  skillfully 
by  Elinor's  and  Lunquist 's  combined  efforts. 

"Oh,  Ory,"  she  fairly  demanded  as  the  storm 
increased  in  fury,  "pile  more  wood  on  that  fire — 
quick.  Yes,  I  know  it 's  leaping  high,  but  it  must 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     291 

blaze  still  better !  Hand  me  the  Indian  blanket, 
won't  you.  This  sweater  seems  a  mere  delusion 
for  the  first  time.  I'll  draw  up  my  chair  close 
to  the  fire,  and  you  take  what  room  is  left  for 
yours.  Then  we'll  read — read!  Oh,  if  we  had 
only  gone  yesterday — yesterday  when  a  calm 
moon  smiled  over  a  still  calmer  lake,  instead  of 
waiting  till  the  traces  of  rain  and  storm  leave 
for  us  only  dismal  memories!" 

I  thought  that  Elinor  was  merely  fearfully 
affected  by  the  gloom  of  present  surroundings, 
as  all  highly  temperamental  natures  must  be ;  so 
I  arranged  her  chair  very  near  the  fire,  and, 
drawing  my  own  close  to  the  rioting  flames, 
began  a  furious,  and  only  half -decently  punctu- 
ated bombardment  upon  Stockton's  "Hundredth 
Man."  I  thought  it  wonderful  what  a  soothing 
power  such  indifferent  reading  could  produce, 
for  after  we  were  settled,  Elinor  did  not  speak 
again.  She  did  not  even  stir,  or  scarcely  seem 
to  breathe  for  fear  of  losing  the  charm  of  my 
hurried  words. 


292     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

When  the  deer-head  clock  on  her  mantel  struck 
ten,  our  hour  agreed  upon  always  for  parting 
for  the  evening,  Elinor  stirred  with  a  slight 
moan.  Looking  up  quickly,  I  saw  that  her  eyes 
were  almost  glassy,  and  her  face  livid.  At  once 
the  fearful  thought  came  to  me  that  she  was  dy- 
ing, for  some  unaccountable  reason,  under  cir- 
cumstances that  would  mean  her  ruined  name, 
if  ever  brought  to  light.  I  had  but  one  thought 
now,  to  save  her  at  least  until  I  could  get  her 
back  to  a  city  hospital,  some  way — I  counted 
wonderfully  at  the  moment  on  Lunquist's  stolid 
but  unfailing  brains — and  there  under  best 
physicians,  she  could  stand  at  least  the  show  of 
dying  under  conventional  and  approved  circum- 
stances. 

11  Elinor, "  I  pleaded,  warned,  commanded,  all 
in  a  breath,  as  I  at  once  seized  upon  the  woods 
remedy  of  brandy,  * '  Elinor,  try  to  bear  up ;  try 
to  be  your  old  game  self,  dear.  Try,  until  Lun- 
quist  and  I  can  get  you  back  safely — home!" 

But  she  pushed  the  silver  flask  away,  and 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     293 

would  have  none  of  it.  The  color  rushed  back 
to  her  face  in  a  torrent  of  feverish  beauty,  more 
alarming  even  than  the  intense  pallidness  had 
seemed.  ' 'No,"  she  cried,  *  'I  am  not  dying.  I 
ought  to  be;  I  ought  to  be — but  I  can't  and 
won't.  I  was  just  thinking,  Ory" — her  voice 
grew  strangely  calm,  "that  a  more  cruel  type 
of  woman  never  lived  than  I.  Merely  to  try 
out  a  theory — I  have  wantonly  ruined  every 
prospect  of  happiness  for  your  married  life.  I 
know  I  am  perfectly  protected — one  could 
never  find  a  safer  resting-place  for  reputation 
than  in  your  hands.  But  you  are  not  the  kind 
of  man  that  can  marry  happily  with  a  secret 
that  he  must  ever  keep  from  his  wife.  For 
your  married  life  must  be  the  clear,  clear  pool, 
where  one  can  look  down  and  down  until  even 
the  hearts  of  the  pebbles  open  to  show  you  their 
pure  worth !  And  I — oh,  wicked  woman — have 
taken  this  one  chance  for  happiness  away  for- 
ever ! ' ' 
Ed,  even  as  I  raised  my  hand  to  hush  the  self- 


294     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

accusation  that  fell  wildly  from  her  lovely  lips, 
I  found  myself  changing  utterly,  beyond  any 
power  of  checking  myself  into  a  new  and  shame- 
lessly weakened  being.  I  saw  before  me  only 
the  woman  with  whom  I  was  wildly  infatuated, 
more  desirable,  more  beautiful  as  her  color 
paled  and  flashed,  and  her  perfect  lines  rose 
and  trembled  and  fell  under  the  tumult  of  her 
emotions,  than  I  had  ever  supposed  it  possible 
even  for  the  most  alluring  woman  to  be.  I  had 
no  sense  of  honor  now  for  previously  assumed 
obligations ;  no  care  for  the  past  nor  the  future 
— only  the  lust  to  seize  upon  the  slim,  slim 
chance  of  the  present — to  hold  Elinor  in  my 
arms,  if  not  lawfully,  at  least  temporarily  as 
my  very  own. 

At  once  she  read  my  thoughts,  and  with  a  cry 
of  fury  sprang  away  from  my  approach.  ' '  Oh, 
I  hate  you  now,  hate  you,"  she  cried.  "You 
seemed  so  strong,  so  true,  so  reliable.  Now  you 
have  turned  just  like  the  others — the  weaker 
others.  You  are  not  content  with  the  agony  of 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     295 

ray  remorse  and  grief  for  you ;  but  you  are  will- 
ing to  take  away  the  little  threadbare  bit  of 
self-respect  I  have  left!" 

" Elinor,*'  I  protested,  "you  are  cruel,  you 
are  wickedly  cruel  to  blame  me — now.  You 
know  there  is  no  human,  no  matter  how  moral 
or  true,  who  can  wantonly  throw  himself  into  a 
fire  and  not  be  burned  like  any  weak  unprin- 
cipled mortal,  only  deeper,  deeper  I  say,  because 
of  his  very  lack  of  wantonness  in  previous  times. 
You  asked  me  here,  and  because  I  love  you — 
love  you  above — " 

The  woman's  hands  dropped  helplessly  to 
her  side;  for  an  instant  her  whole  frame 
trembled,  then  grew  strangely  calm.  "Ory," 
she  said  gently,  in  a  voice  of  such  utter  control, 
that  immediately  I  found  my  own  decent  foot- 
ing, "forgive  me  for  accusing  you  in  a  moment 
of  despair.  It  is  I  who  am  entirely  to  blame  I 
You  have  kept  the  trust  so  well,  so  wonderfully 
well,  just  to  let  me  play  in  foolish  childishness 
with  fire,  that — oh,  Ory,  it  might  all  have  been 


296     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

such  a  beautiful,  big  sweet  thing  to  look  back 
upon  always  if — if — we  had  only  had  the  right!" 
In  her  flushed  humility  she  was  wondrously 
alluring.  In  a  flash  I  had  her  beautiful  body 
swaying  in  fierce  resistance,  yet  in  unconscious 
yielding,  in  my  arms.  "It  is  a  big  sweet  thing. 
Now,"  I  cried.  ' '  We  have  the  right.  It  is  dif- 
ferent with  us  whose  very  souls — " 

She  trembled  away  from  me  an  instant,  her 
lips  burning  up  toward  mine.  "Ory,"  she 
barely  whispered,  "save  me!  Take  care  of 
me!  Oh,  please!" 

Again  but  the  one  possible  answer.  * '  I  will, '  * 
I  cried  in  bitter  restraint.  "If  I  must,  I  will 
turn  away  from  my  one  glimpse  of  heaven  on 
earth.  I  will  struggle  to  forget  that  you  are 
you.  If  1  must,  just  say  that  one  cruel  little 
word — dear  heart." 

But  her  lips  were  dumb,  and  her  beautiful 
head  lay  very  still  now  against  my  shoulder. 

"Oh,  you  little  game  sport,"  I  cried,  utterly 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     297 

wretched  to  think  I  had  used  all  the  power 
within  me  to  win,  utterly  happy  in  the  posses- 
sion. "Oh — you — sweet — little  Game  Sport!" 

A  POSTSCRIPT 

And  then  the  morning.  The  morning  that 
seemed  so  cruelly  speedy  in  arriving,  because 
we  had  neither  the  desire  nor  the  courage  to 
face  it.  The  morning  was  full  of  bird-song  and 
renewed  vigor  of  sunshine  to  many — but  to  our 
myopic  visions  was  visible  only  fiercely  leaden 
skies  of  Regret,  Suppressed  Frenzy,  Despair. 
As  we  moved  about  on  our  errands,  neither  of 
us  was  conscious  of  the  presence  of  the  other. 
For  both  were  held  fast  before  the  framework 
of  a  picture.  The  fleeting  promise  of  a  beau- 
tiful day — then,  though  our  hands  were  held  out 
longingly  toward  it,  suddenly  all  joy  gone  past 
hope,  past  any  power  of  retaining — sunk  in  a 
cruelly  dark  and  lifeless  sky!  Thus  had  we 
tried  to  prove,  to  our  own  destruction  of  heart- 


298     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

peace  and  self-respect,  the  ' 'fallacy"  of  one  of 
God's  kindest  gifts  to  men — Convention's  laws! 
Ah  what  a  bitter,  bitter  proof ! 

It  was  a  relief  when  Elinor,  woman-like,  came 
to  the  rescue — very  early  in  the  day.  "  Please 
have  the  horses  hitched,  Ory.  I  must  go  at 
once.  Lunquist  will  see  me  over  to  that  little 
hotel  at  Star  Lake.  I  will  pack  my  suit-cases ; 
they  can  be  sent  in  the  morning.  I  will  take 
the  first  train  out  after  they  arrive." 

"May  I  not  even  see  you  over,  Elinor?"  I 
asked  humbly.  "I  must  follow  at  a  distance. 
The  storm  is  permanently  over,  but  you'll  find 
the  trails  well  filled  with  debris.  I  could  not 
dream  of  trusting  you  to  Lunquist  alone,  care- 
ful as  he  is. ' ' 

"Yes,  I  suppose  you  may,"  she  answered  in 
a  voice  of  such  calmness  that  I  marveled,  "you 
are  too  thoughtful  to  have  it  any  other  way. 
But,  Ory,  please  don't  wait  to  see  me  off  there. 
Please  let  this  really  be  our  good-by."  She 
came  across  to  me,  and  held  out  both  hands. 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     299 

Her  face,  as  she  lifted  it,  was  infinitely  sweet; 
but  in  spite  of  her  brave  effort  her  lips  trembled 
and  tears  sprang  into  her  eyes.  "Good-by, 
Ory,"  she  said.  "I  wish  a  person  could  just 
quit  living,  when  it  seems  too  terrible  and  hard. 
But  no  real  person  can.  I  shall  just  bluff  it 
out,  and  go  on  and  on,  and  try  not  to  think — 
only  to  bluff,  bluff  that  the  sun  is  clearly  visible 
through  leaden  skies;  that  I've  never  lost  my 
self-respect!  I  hope  it  won't  be  too  dreadful 
for  you — that  some  day  the  bitterness  will  give 
way  to  even  a  vague  sweetness,  though  it  ought 
not,  I  suppose.  I  am  glad,  very  glad  that  I 
have  to  play  the  harder  part!  And,  Ory,  for 
the  pleasant  time  you've  tried  to  make  for  me, 
for  your  wonderful  conception  and  courtesy — 
thank  you,  dear." 

I  rode  very  close  after  Elinor  and  Lunquist 
that  early  morning.  At  times  I  dismounted  to 
help  the  Swede  lead  her  horse  over  fallen  tree- 
boughs  or  around  fierce  tangling  of  young  cot- 


300     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

tonwoods,  cherries,  and  hazel-bushes.  But,  so 
far  as  I  remember,  none  of  us,  aside  from  the 
giving  of  a  few  directions  by  Lunquist,  spoke  a 
word.  To  the  big  Swede,  a  sudden  arrival  or  de- 
parture was  evidently  a  frequent  enough  occur- 
rence to  arouse  little  surprise  and  no  comment. 
With  Elinor  and  myself  offended  conscience 
made  the  stormy  skies  so  suffocatingly  near, 
so  oppressive,  as  to  drown  out  any  effort  but 
the  mechanical  one  of  breathing.  At  the  hotel- 
desk  I  left  her,  after  finding  that  the  one  desir- 
able room  was  obtainable  till  train-time.  I  also 
left  Lunquist,  heavily  paid,  with  a  full  promise, 
that  I  knew  he  would  not  break,  to  see  her  safely 
started  in  the  best  surroundings  attainable.  I 
have  not  seen  her  since.  Twice  afterwards  I 
wrote  her,  begging  with  an  insistence  that  came 
from  an  almost  unendurable  longing,  for  an 
opportunity  to  talk  with  her.  Both  letters  were 
returned,  unopened.  For  Elinor  was  not  the 
type  of  woman  that  sets  out  to  keep  a  faith  only 
to  break  it.  She  lessened  the  pain  of  my  weak 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL    301 

insistence,  however,  by  writing  across  the  flap 
of  the  last  letter  before  returning:  "Because 
I  do  not  dare. '  *  It  is  not  only  a  woman,  I  have 
come  to  believe,  that  likes  to  feel  that  it  is  a  grim 
fate,  rather  than  easy  intention,  that  makes 
one 's  attendance  in  certain  places  impossible ! 

When  I  left  Star  Lake  the  evening  of  the 
same  day  upon  which  Elinor  had  gone,  it  was 
with  the  feeling  again  that  I  had  lived  this  all 
out  in  some  fearful  preexistence.  Bitter, 
shaken  in  faith  with  myself,  and  disgusted  with 
life,  I  had  only  one  aim  now — to  work,  work  so 
I  could  never  think  again.  But  first,  protect- 
ing the  name  of  my  woods-companion  to  the  ut- 
termost— to  tell  all  to  Mabel ! 

I  know  that  I  presented  a  frightful  physical 
appearance  from  Marie 's  startled  exclamation 
and  oppressive  attention  to  my  wants  from  the 
first  moment  of  my  return;  but  I  was  hardly 
prepared  for  Mabel's  version  of  the  matter, 
when  I  found  her  in  the  orchard  with  her  bees, 


302     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

where  I  had  sought  her  in  frantic  haste  to  have 
it  over. 

She  took  my  hand,  which  I  had  not  dared  to 
outstretch,  stroked  it  with  unusual  kindness, 
and  then  motioned  me  to  a  seat  near-by. 
"Frank,  you  poor  boy,"  fell  upon  my  astounded 
ears,  "do  you  really  feel  so  bad  about  telling 
me!  I  have  thought  for  a  long  time  that  you 
didn't  love  me — that  I  couldn't  quite  come  up 
to  your  mentality  in  my  practical  bustling  life 
— but  I  sent  you  away  so  you  could  think  it  over, 
and  decide  surely  for  yourself.  Now  we  both 
know." 

"But,  Mabel,"  I  insisted,  too  nonplused  at 
the  turn  matters  had  taken  to  veil  my  reply  un- 
der a  reluctance  to  agree,  "it  is  not  a  question 
of  whether  I  love  you — it  is  simply  this :  Since 
we  last  met  I  have  destroyed  every  right  to 
claim  you  as  a  wife.  I  have  come  straight  out 
to  tell  you — then  you  will  see  for  yourself  how 
impossible — " 

But  she  held  up  a  hand.    ' '  No,  Frank,  please ! 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     303 

I  would  rather  not.  There  could  be  no  secret 
between  us  if  we  married;  but  since  we  shall 
never  do  that  now,  I  can't  have  you  involve 
yourself  or — or — any  one  else  in  an  explanation 
you  may  regret  later.*' 

Suddenly  she  sprang  to  her  feet  in  bitter 
anger.  It  was  no  longer  the  simple  little  coun- 
try girl  before  me,  but  a  woman,  understand- 
ing, bitterly  hurt,  crying  out,  not  only  for  her- 
self but  for  every  woman  of  her  own,  all  past, 
all  future  times.  "  Explanation  1  What  does 
a  woman  want  with  explanation  from  her  lover 
or  husband!"  she  hurled  defiantly.  "It  is  the 
true  living — the  keeping  of  the  faith — as  he 
would  expect  it  and  demand  it  in  her,  that 
counts." 


LETTER  XX 

From  Mildred  to  Her  Aunt,  Mrs.  William 
Howard  Thompson.  In  Which  She  Con- 
fesses Herself  Much  at  Sea.  At  Prairie 
Grove.  November  Seventeenth. 

DEAEEST  AUNT: 

This  growing-up  process  seems  a  fearfully 
rapid  one — the  least  rationally  balanced  of  any- 
thing in  nature.  One  day  I  am  climbing  the 
apple-tree,  dolls  and  books  in  hand — the  next, 
standing  at  my  bedroom  window,  fully  grown, 
wondering,  suffering,  unable  to  solve  this  or 
that.  Ed  has  thought  me  listless,  of  late,  and 
without  the  right  number  of  laughs  a  day,  and 
so,  dear  watchful  brother  that  he  ever  is,  he  has 
packed  me  away  to  a  farm-home,  very  near  so 
he  can  drive  out,  to  recuperate.  It  is  pumpkin 
and  chicken  and  even  turkey  time  on  the  farm ! 
The  air  has  a  famous  tang  when  one  rides 

304 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL    305 

horseback.  The  grate-fire  has  a  particularly 
soothing  hum  and  roar  when  one  returns  stiff- 
ened from  a  gallop.  I  had  my  choice  between 
the  big  parental  home  on  the  hill — belonging  to 
a  Mr.  Vickery,  or  to  live  in  the  one  spare-room 
of  the  little  cottage,  where  his  married  daugh- 
ter lives,  at  the  close  touch  of  the  other's  boun- 
daries. I  took  the  cottage  as  it  looked  so 
homey,  and  there  were  two  very  young  children 
there — two  of  the  sweetest  little  boys  ever,  with 
ruddy  cheeks  and  eyes  just  dancing  with  fun. 
The  gloriously  wholesome  and  cheery  type  that 
this  old  world  needs. 

Tante,  I  am  learning  worlds  of  new  things 
from  this  simple-hearted,  perfectly  balanced 
woman.  You  know  I  have  been  kept  so  along 
one  line  of  training  that  I  feel  myself  incom- 
petent, at  times,  to  wrestle  with  vividly  impor- 
tant matters.  She — Edith  Wilbur  is  her  name 
— is  helping  me  so.  She  is  ever  happy,  ever 
busy  with  simple  duties  for  herself  or  others. 
Yet  she  has  a  keen  mind,  easily  capable  of  an- 


306     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

alyzing  life  for  herself.  She  declares,  over  our 
bit  of  sewing,  that  she  believes  in  loving  a  man 
on  faith,  and  early  at  that.  She  does  not  be- 
lieve that  the  doleful  period  in  the  lives  of  most 
young  men,  when  they  must  wander  the  city- 
streets  on  delicatessen  meals,  and  foist  hall- 
bedrooms  for  real  homes,  was  ever  instituted  by 
God ;  but  purely  and  simply  the  outcome  of  the 
idleness  or  extravagance  of  women,  who  won't 
live  simply,  and  who  insist  at  beginning  where 
their  fathers  quit.  Oh,  it's  fine  to  hear  her.  I 
wish  you  could  see  her  pretty  eyes  flash  when 
she  declares  that  she  has  no  use  for  the  theory 
that  to  be  untempted  is  to  be  chaste  and  strong. 
Nor  again  does  she  approve  of  the  cruelty 
of  condemning  those  of  one  sex  who  have  not 
won  out  their  battles  squarely,  any  more  hugely 
than  the  other.  In  that  we  agree  perfectly, 
both  from  an  ethical  and  hygienic  standpoint. 
After  all,  I  am  coming  to  believe  with  her  that 
if  a  woman  expects  nobility  in  a  man,  even  to  the 
height  of  a  haystack,  she  may  be  gladdened  by 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     307 

seeing  him  attain  unto  the  limit  of  the  moun- 
tain-ridges. But  if  she  shows  no  stability  her- 
self, aside  from  the  battles  fought  and  won 
merely  to  escape  unpleasant  notice  in  life — is 
she,  after  all,  any  better,  or  half  so  good  as  the 
one  who  has  gone  straight  into  the  powder  and 
shell,  and,  later,  returns,  grievously  tired  out, 
perhaps,  but  master,  at  last,  of  the  situation ! 

Tante,  I  am  going  to  write  Teddy  this  very 
night,  and  ask  him  if  he  is  the  only  one  of  our 
many  acquaintances  who  is  the  Great  Excep- 
tion in  Unfailing  Morals,  or  whether  there  are 
many,  many  infallible  men  like  him,  and  Sena- 
tor Buckingham,  and  as  Ory's  father  surely 
was.  It  may  seem  foolish,  but  I  must  know. 
So  Lovingly,  MILDEED. 


LETTER  XXI 

Aliston  to  His  Sister  Mildred.  By  Special 
Delivery.  November  Nineteenth. 

My  dear  little  sister — why,  my  dear  little 
sister — A  single  and  ultimate  correction  for  all 
evils — an  insistence  upon  perfection  in  man  is 
impossible.  I  realize  now  what  pain  I  may 
have  brought  upon  you  by  inculcating  one  rigor- 
ous line  of  thought  in  your  mind  and  heart 
But  I  think,  and  always  have  thought,  that  the 
man  who  is  ready  to  marry,  is  the  one  that  has 
met  life's  temptations  with  a  determination 
not  to  be  outwitted.  This  is  far,  however,  from 
spelling — Perfection!  I,  one  of  the  'Great 
Exceptions.'  Well  hardly!  I  am  simply  one 
of  the  many,  many  natural  characters,  drawing 
my  lessons  through  observation,  actual  min- 
gling, a  struggle  or  two,  and,  then,  obtaining  a 

308 


THE  SIXGLE-CODE  GIRL     309 

real  ballast,  through  a  true  desire  to  win.  It  is 
interesting  to  think,  however,  that  there  are  a 
few  characters  set  apart  in  almost  hallowed 
places  who  may  be  very  strong,  and  yet  may 
know  little  of  mingling  with  the  world.  Ory's 
father  appeared  to  be  one  of  them.  I  thought  of 
him  always  as  utterly  impregnable  to  the  attack 
of  any  temptations.  But,  usually,  the  general 
who  wears  shining  epaulets  on  his  shoulders 
has  won  them  because  he  has  been  in  the  midst 
of  powder  and  shell ;  and,  fighting  to  the  fullest 
power  in  him,  has  come  out  victorious,  able  to 
direct  from  having  obeyed,  qualified  to  lead  be- 
cause he  has  conquered.  I  would  that  I  could 
offer  as  much  of  this  example  in  myself,  as  I 
surely  hope  to  find  it  in  any  one  who  loves  you, 
Mildred.  Because  (as  true  women  can  do  so 
helpfully  and,  it  would  seem,  with  greater  ease 
than  men)  you  have  proven  your  worthiness  to 
the  best  there  is.  Perhaps  some  day  you  may 
understand  me  fully,  Mildred.  I  can  only  tell 
you  this  much  now. 


310     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

I  am  glad  the  canters  over  the  hillsides  are 
doing  you  so  much  good.  Hope  to  get  Saturday 
next  and  Sunday  off  myself — when  we  will  take 
a  famous  ride. With  Much  Love,  TEDDY. 


LETTER  XXII 

Holland  to  Aliston.  An  Attempted 
Search  for  the  Girl  in  the  Land  of  Shadow. 
At  Congress  Hotel,  Chicago.  November 
Twentieth. 

DEAB  ED: 

For  some  odd  reason  I  felt  myself  drawn 
irresistibly  to  choose  the  hotel  where  I  spent 
the  first  fortnight  after  my  dismissal  from  col- 
lege on  account  of  the  performance  at  Owl  Inn. 
How  different  are  the  circumstances,  now,  and 
yet  I  can  not  say  they  are  any  the  less  gloomy. 
Then  I  was  crushed  with  the  anger  of  my  father 
toward  me,  and  harassed  with  the  thought  that 
my  scarce  money  was  dwindling  alarmingly. 
Now,  with  a  full  purse,  that  makes  one  of  the 
most  desirable  suites,  with  big  bay-windows 
overlooking  the  steady  line  of  glistening  ma- 
chines on  Michigan  Boulevard,  possible  indefi- 

311 


312     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

nitely,  I  am  again  racked  with  pain  at  the  evi- 
dent futility  of  my  searching.  I  can  not  get  the 
slightest  trace  of  the  Girl  in  the  Land  of 
Shadow.  Yet  I  am  doubly  interested  in  finding 
her  now — for  my  own  peace  of  mind,  and  for 
the  humane  interest  you  have  expressed.  Be- 
fore I  hire  detectives,  however,  I  shall  try  hard 
on  my  own  hook,  believing  it  often  to  be  the 
most  efficient  way. 

Of  course  I  realized  from  the  start  that  the 
chance  of  finding  her  was  but  one  in  a  thou- 
sand; for  with  only  the  slight  clew,  given  me 
over  the  table  in  the  "ladies'  parlor"  at  the  sa- 
loon that  her  name  was  Craig  (probably  ficti- 
tious as  is  the  custom  with  those  women)  and 
that  she  lived  right  across  from  Hull  House — I 
have  had  to  work  my  blind  search.  The 
thought  of  the  simpering  musician  occurred  to 
me,  the  man  who  was  writhing  his  way  down  to 
the  poor  girl  that  night  when  I  came  to  her  res- 
cue with  the  protection  of  my  company.  I  have 
beaten  the  whole  of  the  "underworld"  with  the 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     313 

aid  of  a  best  detective  in  this  direction  to  try  to 
get  hold  of  him  that  I  might  ascertain  whether 
he  continued  long  in  his  unwelcome  attention 
to  the  girl,  or  whether  he  had  the  slightest  ink- 
ling of  her  whereabouts.  He  too  has  passed 
out  of  reach,  however,  being,  evidently,  only  one 
of  the  countless  number  of  surfeiters  that  en- 
cumber earth  for  a  while,  and  then  drop  away 
without  a  ripple  of  regret  from  her,  or  even 
knowledge  •  of  departure.  This  morning,  it 
seems  to  me,  I  shall  never  be  able  to  discover 
whether  the  poor  little  girl  ever  found  her  one 
staunch  friend.  At  least,  thank  God,  I  have  no 
lurid  memory  of  any  harm  I  ever  did  her;  but 
I  can  not  forget  that  I  would  not  have  given  up 
her  company  if  she  herself  had  not  helped  me 
to  the  stronger  decision,  by  making  it  compul- 
sory. 

Isn't  it  always  true  that  even  as  we  begin 
curving  in  our  fingers  for  a  give-up,  Providence 
offers  us  still  another  chance  to  grasp  the  life- 
line that  has  been  lying  right  at  our  side  all  the 


314     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

time.  This  evening  early  (it  is  now  midnight)  I 
went  out  for  a  last  attempt.  My  road,  as  usual, 
lay  along  Archer  Street,  down  Twenty-second, 
across  the  big  lift-bridge  toward  Halsted. 
The  wind  was  blowing  a  perfect  gale,  swooping 
the  papers  and  trash  out  of  the  garbage-boxes, 
placed  at  the  corners  of  the  many  alleyways, 
and  adding  their  medley  to  the  already  heavily 
clogged  streets.  I  stopped  for  a  moment  at  the 
corner  of  one  alley,  trying  to  lay  out  my  night's 
campaign  as  briefly  as  possible,  so  as  to  get  back 
out  of  the  howling  wind  into  the  warmth  and 
stir  and  glow  of  Peacock  Alley  or  my  hotel- 
room.  I  felt  very  much  alone  just  then,  for 
the  steps  of  the  tenements,  crowded  to  overflow- 
ing with  genial  Italian  families  of  balmy  even- 
ings, were  utterly  deserted  this  night.  Not  a 
policeman  was  in  sight.  A  little  brown  dog, 
with  a  surplus  of  mud  in  its  shaggy,  unkempt 
hair,  shivered  miserably  behind  a  garbage-box. 
"Bedelia,"  a  pock-marked,  street-character 
slunk  by  me  stealthily,  muttering  a  low  curse  at 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     315 

my  unwelcome  blocking  of  a  square  foot,  even, 
of  the  sidewalk.  From  the  corner  where  Twen- 
ty-second cuts  into  Archer,  a  discouraged  little 
band  of  Salvationists  had  gathered.  Already 
a  sad  song  lifted  and  quavered  into  utter  minor- 
chords  in  the  mercilessness  of  the  wind.  But 
the  brave  leader  followed  quickly,  beating  the 
air  with  his  stiff,  cold  fists  and  pouring  words 
of  melodramatic  entreaty  into  the  ears  of  the 
indifferent  stragglers  that  had  emerged  one  by 
one  from  the  corner-saloon. 

He,  this  little  captain-leader,  was  not  choice 
of  his  subjects.  He  did  not  know  the  niceties 
that  compel  the  "best-bred"  minds  and  tongues 
to  avoid  all  vital  subjects,  even  though  they  may 
affect  the  life  of  their  very  souls,  and  speak 
rather  of  the  unimportant  physical  needs,  and 
new  harmful  ways  in  politics  and  dress. 

"Necessary  evil,"  he  howled  and  battered  his 
words  defiantly  into  the  stinging  night,  "neces- 
sary habit,  you  mean.  And,  oh,  my  brothers, 
if  it's  true  that  woman  must  be  given  to  this 


316     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

curse,  what  man  of  you  is  brute  enough  to  say 
it  shall  be  his  own  sister  that  is  chosen  for  the 
cause !  And  what  man  is  low  enough  to  hurl  a 
neighbor's  sister  where  he  can  not  choose  to 
send  his  own!" 

The  crowd  took  up  the  challenge  in  its  usual 
manner.  Some  laughed  drunkenly,  some  hung 
irresponsive  sullen  faces.  A  few  dowdy 
women,  clinging  mawkishly  to  rough  arms  for 
support,  tittered  foolishly.  Only  one  man  made 
any  direct*  move.  He  broke  away  from  the 
crowd  with  an  impatient  shrug  of  his  shoulders. 
And  for  an  instant  he  paused  just  outside  the 
huddle,  lifting  his  head  in  evident  indetermina- 
tion  as  to  where  to  go  next.  The  light  from  a 
window  in  a  dried-beef  canning  factory,  where 
scores  of  young  girls  were  packing  a  rush-order, 
fell  full  across  his  face.  In  spite  of  the  lines  of 
fearful  dissipation  and  utter  friction  with 
everything  in  general,  I  recognized  him  at  once 
as  poor  Jarvis  Brown.  And,  aside  from  per- 
sonal liking  for  him,  at  once  it  flashed  through 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     317 

my  mind  that  he  of  all  others  would  be  best  able 
to  help  me  get  some  clew  concerning  the  Girl  in 
the  Land  of  Shadow ! 

Already  he  was  hurrying  away  with  restless 
footsteps  toward  the  east  so  that  I  almost  had 
to  run.  Then  when  I  reached  him  finally  and 
laid  a  desperate  clutch  on  his  shoulder  for  fear 
he  might  yet  escape  me,  he  whirled  angrily 
about  and  lifted  an  arm  to  strike. 

"Hold  on,  Jarvis,"  I  said  easily.  "You  re- 
member me,  I  hope." 

The  man's  arm  dropped  at  once  and  his  burn- 
ing glance  ran  me  over  carefully  from  hat- 
crown  to  shoe-sole.  "God,"  he  staggered  out 
finally,  "what  brings  you  into — this,  Orison  Hol- 
land!" 

"So  you  do  know  me,"  I  exclaimed  with  a 
cordiality  that  threw  a  flicker  of  pleasure  across 
the  poor  face  for  just  an  instant.  "Well,  I  am 
glad  you  do,  for  finding  you  means  everything 
to  me." 

The  light  in  the  man's  eyes  gave  way  in- 


318     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

stantly  to  one  of  repellent  defensiveness.  He 
leaned  against  the  cold  damp  walls  of  the  pack- 
ing-house and  crossed  his  arms.  "Oh,  go  off 
with  your  sponge- talk,"  he  retorted.  "I  guess 
it  isn't  a  loan  you  need" — he  took  in  the  cut  of 
my  coat  and  the  gleam  of  my  shoes  with  a  cer- 
tain smile  of  discernment — *  *  if  it  is,  am  awfully 
sorry,  Ory.  I  should  enjoy  nothing  better. 
Haven't  forgotten  those  old  days;  though,  God 
knows,  I  oughtn't  to  insult  the  almanac  by  re- 
membering them!  But — "  He  turned  his  per- 
fectly empty  pockets  out  with  an  expressive 
shrug  as  a  finish  to  his  sentence. 

"You  must  let  me  help  you  a  little.  We  have 
always  been  friends.  And  you  showed  your- 
self a  dandy  one  by  setting  my  score  right  at 
college.  It's  not  money  that  concerns  me  these 
days.  But  you  can  be  of  infinite  service  to  me 
if—" 

He  eyed  me  suspiciously.  "Say  cut  that 
dodge  out,"  he  muttered  angrily.  "Suppose 
you  don't  ask  me  to  Sunday-school!  Suppose 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     319 

you  don't  tell  me  of  what  value  I,  a  stranded 
derelict,  might  be  to  the  world."  He  brought 
his  fist  down  against  the  rough  wall  with  a  bruis- 
ing thud — "well,  all  I've  got  to  say  is,  it's  a 
damned  sight  too  late.  There  might  once  have 
been  a  show  for  me;  but  now  I  don't  care — I 
don 't  care,  do  you  hear  me !  It 's  a  damned  sight 
too  late  for  heaven  or  hell  to  turn  me  afloat  on 
any  track  but  the  false!" 

"It's  about  a  girl,"  I  soothed  his  anger.  "A 
poor  little  misguided  girl.  Come  into  that  res- 
taurant on  the  corner  and  let's  get  something 
warm.  I'll  tell  you  then.  I'm  sure  you  can 
help  me  get  on  trace  of  her  if  she  is  living  at 
all — that  is  if  you  will." 

At  once  Jarvis  's  whole  manner  changed.  He 
lifted  his  shoulders  with  that  pathetic  recall  of 
gentleman-blood  that  had  once  flowed  so 
strongly  in  his  veins.  "Come  on,"  he  said  sim- 
ply. "If  there  is  any  hope  of  the  poor  little 
kid  being  helped  by  it — you  can  bet  your  life 
I '11  do  my  best." 


320     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

As  the  man  wanned  and  gained  trust  under 
the  stimulus  of  good  food,  I  told  him  my  story 
briefly.  He  answered  little,  seemingly  lost  in  a 
real  struggle  of  thought.  Then,  over  the  fourth 
cup  of  black  coffee,  he  bent  toward  me  across 
the  table.  l '  It 's  odd, ' '  he  said.  * '  Sometimes  I 
think  it's  made  so  in  order  that  it  may  always  be 
devilish  hard  to  commit  murder  or  sin  too 
deeply  in  a  world  that  only  takes  notice  of  a 
derelict  when  he  stirs  up  a  rumpus — but  there 
is  always  some  one  who  knows  us  or  of  us.  I 
am  almost  sure  that  I  can  give  you  a  clew  to  the 
whereabouts  of  the  girl  you  want  to  find.  I 
know  all  about  the  first  details.  Her  name 
really  was  Craig  (poor  little  fool  that  she  was, 
to  tell  the  truth  under  risk).  The  musician 
you  speak  of  was  Michael  Cocintina.  He  shot 
himself  on  account  of  his  infatuation  for  her. 
She  cut  him  short  in  all  attentions  after  an  aw- 
fully stormy  night,  when  it  is  said  she  went  away 
with  a  stranger.  Perhaps  that  stranger  was 
you?" 


THE  SIXGLE-CODE  GIRL     321 

"But  you  know  so  much,  tell  me  did  she  get 
the  one  proof  of  friendship!"  I  questioned 
eagerly. 

Again  he  gave  the  familiar  shrug.  "That 
part  you  and  I  have  yet  to  find  out.  I  know 
where  to  go  to  make  sure  whether  any  good- 
luck  came  her  way  or  whether  she  ended  her  life 
in  the  bottle  or  river.  You  know  just  how  likely 
the  average  person  would  be  to  extend  a  com- 
panionable hand  to  her!  From  the  little  I 
heard  of  the  girl,  I  judge  mere  toleration  in  the 
name  of  charity  would  not  hold  her  long!  A 
friend  in  such  times  is  a  veritable  needle  in  a 
haystack;  but  perhaps  she  found  the  needle. 
She  deserved  the  finding.  At  any  rate  let's  go 
see  at  once!" 

I  almost  dreaded  the  meeting  of  the  truth, 
now  the  opening  to  it  was  so  evidently  upon  me. 
I  laid  a  detaining  hand  on  his  shoulder.  "But 
first  tell  me  a  bit  of  your  own  life,"  I  urged. 
At  once  I  realized  I  had  made  a  bitter  mistake. 

For  a  moment  the  man  sat  utterly  motionless. 


322     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

His  eyes  seemed  looking  out  a  hundred  years 
beyond.  Then  his  hot  desperate  glance  fas- 
tened upon  me  scornfully.  "It's  such  a  rotten, 
familiar  story  that  it  will  only  reach  your  me- 
chanical hearing,"  he  scoffed.  "I  wasn't  con- 
tent with  my  own  blackness,  but  had  to  persuade 
a  sweet  little  woman,  all  faith  and  love,  into  the 
tangled  web.  She  believed  in  me — thought  I 
would  reform — and  I  let  the  declaration  of  my 
lips  guide  me,  though  my  heart  told  me  all  along 
it  was  a  lie ! "  He  threw  his  hands  out  in  sud- 
den protest.  "And  she  kept  on  believing  for  a 
long  while — just  think  of  it — in  the  face  of  all 
odds.  But  now  she  too  has  given  up.  Her  life 
is  a  total  wreck.  Our — our  little  girl  is  four 
now.  She  was  born  blind ! ' ' 

Suddenly  he  rose  in  his  chair.  His  face  grew 
livid.  His  sensitive  hand  clutched  and  clawed 
the  air,  and  then  fell  in  a  helpless  thud  on  the 
table.  "Ory,"  he  cried,  "I  don't  even  go  home 
any  more.  I  only  wait  for  that  one  merciful 
day  to  come  when  I  can  quit.  I  am  too  big  a 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     323 

coward  now  even  to  take  my  worthless  life. 
Ory,  I  am  leaving  them  to  struggle  alone,  be- 
cause I  can't  bear  the  touch  of  those  baby- 
fingers.  I  can't  stand  the  love  in  the  patient 
face  that  she  always  turned  toward  me  when  I 
came  in  the  door,  nor  the  blind  grope  of  the 
helpless  little  hands  toward  my  cheeks.  It  is 
hard  enough  to  knock  up  bravely  against  all  the 
odds  in  life  when  one  has  full  possession  of 
every  sense.  And  to  think  that  this  little  soul 
must  ever  travel  the  life-path  in  blindness — that 
her  poor  mother  must  ever  suffer,  not  on  ac- 
count of  her  own  hardships,  but  for  her.  And 
all — all  because  they  have  both  known  me!" 

His  head  fell  on  the  table  under  such  convul- 
sive movements  and  gasps,  that  I  feared  for  the 
moment  that  Jarvis'  drug- wrecked  body  was 
about  to  rebel  finally.  Then  before  I  could 
even  touch  him  or  beckon  a  staring  waiter,  the 
poor  man  lifted  his  head  with  a  touch  of  utmost 
pity  softening  its  every  line.  "It  isn't  just  the 
man  of  poverty,  either,  Ory,"  he  reasoned  with 


324     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

the  calmness  of  despair.  ''Chester — you  re- 
member him? — he  is  on  the  bench  now.  He 
solves  many  questions  that  have  to  do  with  the 
most  vital  things  we  know — the  wrecking  or  re- 
storing of  mortal  hope ;  the  taking  or  giving  of 
life  itself.  But  Chester's  pure,  sweet  little  wife 
has  a  terrible  sorrow  of  her  own.  They  have 
but  one  boy — a  helpless  cripple  from  his  waist 
down.  The  judge  has  sent  to  almost  every  coun- 
try to  get  beautiful  plants  and  foliage  to  adorn 
their  big  lawn.  These  are  for  the  boy  to  look 
at  when  he  rides  in  his  wheel-chair.  He  has  all 
the  high-named  physicians,  and  a  tutor,  too ;  and 
books  by  the  thousand ;  and  every  possible  me- 
chanical toy.  But — somehow,  I  can't  help 
thinking  that  the  poor  little  chap  would  rather 
be  down  here  even — on  poverty-row — if  he 
could  only  run  and  jump  like  other  normal  kids, 
than  be  the  son  of  his  millionaire  father — 
a  little  rich  cripple,  shut  in  from  the  world  fig- 
uratively and  literally  by  stone  walls ! ' r 
"They  can  not  find  the  slightest  clew  to  the 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     325 

trouble  I "  I  asked  Jarvis  as  he  arose  to  go  with 
me. 

Again  the  shrug.  "Many  noted  physicians, 
even  from  abroad,  have  given  a  try  at  it. 
Money  has  never  been  stinted  an  instant.  But 
with  such  a  truly  good  mother  and  such  a  wise, 
kind,  evenly  balanced  father — what  is  there  to 
think!"  Suddenly  he  stooped  very  near  me — 
"Zista  is  about  the  only  one  who  could  really  of- 
fer any  possible  solution.  You  remember  her — 
the  dance-girl  who  was  so  angry  with  Chester 
after  that  night  at  the  Owl  Inn?  But  Zista  loves 
hush-money.  Zista  loves  nothing  better  than 
to  clothe  her  lovely  body  in  still  lovelier  gar- 
ments and  to  climb  in  and  out  of  limousines  to 
and  from  her  apartments  in  fine  hotels.  They 
say  Chester's  life  is,  unfortunately,  like  an  open 
book  in  her  hands — Even  the  wisest  head  seems 
prone,  at  times,  to  write  the  wantonly  danger- 
ous confession  just  once — Zista  holds  just  such 
a  dangerous  letter,  but  little  Zista  is  not  fool 
enough  to  interest  herself  in  the  why  and  where- 


326     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

fore  of  the  need  for  modern  eugenics,  or  to  trace 
lurid  results  to  possible  hereditary  flaws,  so 
long  as  the  hush-money  can  be  provided  in  gen- 
erous amount !  Of  that  she  is  certainly  secure, 
for  the  judge  must  evade  notoriety.  For  that 
reason  more  than  for  his  rumored  high  re- 
gard for  all  suffering  mankind,  perhaps,  he  is 
forced  to  labor  often  into  the  small  hours  at 
his  desk.  Double  responsibilities,  a  fearfully 
afflicted  son  and  Zista,  are  hard  even  for  him  to 
carry,  as  you  can  imagine.  It  is  the  truth,  too, 
that  when  remorse  for  his  poor  lad's  condition 
seizes  upon  him  too  desperately,  he  flies,  like  a 
haunted  convict  at  large,  to  the  very  seat  of  his 
trouble.  Zista  can  be  soothing  at  times  as  well 
as  demanding.  She  knows  it  is  for  her  own  best 
good  to  listen  to  a  wailing  human  voice  that 
must  speak,  must  tell  all  to  some  living  soul — to 
listen  and  not  repeat !  You  are  wondering  how 
I  know  so  much?  Because  once  I  hated  Ches- 
ter ;  once  I  hounded  his  every  footstep,  and  with 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     327 

my  own  familiarity  with  all  things  unworthy 
was  able  to  translate  his  slyest  moves  with  ease. 
I  meant  to  do  him  harm — vast  harm.  But  that 
was  before  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  his  crippled 
laddie,  a  boy  with  helpless  withered  limbs,  a  face 
of  infinite  sadness,  and  eyes  that  accepted  hope- 
lessly but  patiently  what  another  had  cast  upon 
him.  That  was  before  I  knew  my  beautiful 
little  girl,  too,  and  felt  the  loving  touch  of  her 
groping,  worshipful  little  fingers  upon  my 
rankly  unworthy  head.  I  could  not  harm  a  fly 
now ;  but  I  have  already  played  the  biggest  card 
that  hell  owns  in  her  pack  in  cursing  the  lives  of 
two  who  believed  in  me.  I  pity  Chester  now; 
for  I  know  somewhat  of  the  torture  he  suffers. 
I  do  not  hate  him.  I  tell  you  these  things  be- 
cause my  stagger  is  nearly  over,  and  it  seems 
somehow  that  a  man  of  trust  and  silence,  like 
you,  ought  to  hold  these  facts.  Credit  or  refuse 
them  as  you  will!  After  all  they  smack  of  the 
highly  improbable.  For,  bah !  surely,  the  great, 


328     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

gentle  wise  judge  of  a  struggling  people  could 
not  accept  so  solemn  a  charge,  if  he  had  failed 
miserably  himself!" 

I  sat  so  long  trying  to  reconcile  myself  to  the 
justice  of  Chester's  being  judge  that  it  was  Jar- 
vis  this  time  who  took  the  initiative.  "Come," 
he  said,  now  thoroughly  sobered,  and  the  gentle- 
man he  was  by  nature,  "I  am  not  quite  so  far 
adrift  but  that  if  there  is  a  chance  to  set  a  pair 
of  feet  into  a  path  of  faintest  hope,  I'll  try  my 
best.  Let's  be  off  to  search  the  slums  for  a  pos- 
sible trace  of  the  poor,  misguided,  little 
'Kiddo'!" 


LETTER  XXIII 

Just  a  Restful  Letter  from  Mrs.  Thomp- 
son to  Nephew,  Edward  Clifton  Aliston. 
November  Twenty-Fifth. 

DEAR  TEDDY: 

It  is  more  than  generous  of  you  to  spare 
Mildred  to  me  so  long  before  the  Christmas 
holidays.  She  came  from  her  farm-vacation, 
very  quiet  and  with  a  new  thoughtfulness  of 
bearing.  Her  lovely  color  and  vivacity  are 
coming  back  already,  however.  We  have  just 
everything  to  plan  together,  and  Mildred  is  so 
dear  to  work  with,  always  so  full  of  taste  her- 
self, and  so  tactful  about  making  any  worth- 
while move  seem  to  be  another's  clever  idea  in- 
stead of  her  very  own!  When  we  are  not  out 
driving,  finding  so  many  beautiful  decorative- 
possibilities,  even  though  our  first  real  snow 

329 


330     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

now  lies  over  the  hills,  we  are  immensely  busy 
with  our  patients.  For  what  do  you  think  Dr. 
Forrester  has  done  next  to  help  grandly,  in  his 
dear  unpretentious  way,  in  smoothing  out  the 
fearsome  rough  places  in  several  poor  little 
lives?  You  remember  the  big  Pratt  house  high 
on  the  cliff  just  opposite  my  home?  It  has 
stood  idle  for  several  years,  since  the  passing  of 
its  last  interested  member;  and  yet  it  possesses 
every  advantage  of  climatic  conditions  and 
beautiful  outlook.  I  have  trembled  at  the 
thought  of  non-appreciative  but  well-pursed 
neighbors  seizing  upon  it,  so  much  so  that  I 
have  often  considered  its  purchase;  but  last 
month  Dr.  Forrester  secured  my  lasting  peace 
by  buying  it  himself !  He  is  turning  every  one 
of  the  sixteen  old-fashioned  square  rooms  into 
comfortable  hospital  quarters,  each  with  a 
grate-fire  and  one  sunny  window,  at  least,  for 
raising  plants  in  winter.  The  large  porch  that 
ran  across  the  entire  front  is  being  continued 
around  three  sides.  The  left  porch,  facing 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     331 

south,  is  to  be  fitted  with  glass  sides,  making  a 
sun-parlor,  with  a  glorious  vista  over  our 
gentler  mountain-slopes  and  valley-lake.  This 
is  for  winter  convalescents.  The  right  porch  is 
entirely  open,  and  gives  an  inexpressibly  in- 
spiring view  of  our  dashing  river  and  most 
lofty  mountain-tops.  This,  Dr.  Forrester  says, 
is  to  be  God's  landscape  of  hope  for  the  sum- 
mer-patients, or  those  of  more  rugged  natures 
who  prefer  a  bit  of  the  strongest  ozone,  even  in 
winter,  to  comfortably  glassed  walls.  His  pa- 
tients are  all  to  be  boys — crippled  boys,  whose 
cases  have  been  pronounced  hopeless;  or  who 
lack  the  $l,000-f  ee  that  stands  between  them  and 
possible  recovery.  Isn't  it  just  like  him!  He 
is  always  so  busy  trying  to  lift  the  burdens  of 
others  with  his  own  ready  and  capable  shoul- 
ders that  he  does  not  spare  an  instant  to  thought 
of  his  own  comforts.  Yesterday  I  gave  him  a 
positive  scolding  about  coming  out  in  a  pouring 
rain  to  see  a  patient  who  was  very  ill,  without 
stopping  for  storm-coat  or  rubbers.  I  even 


332     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

risked  advising  him  to  begin  thinking  over  our 
list  of  beautiful  eligible  young  girls  for  one 
whom  he  thought  might  make  a  dutiful  and  at- 
tentive wife,  since  he  is  growing  so  inexcusably 
stupid  about  the  importance  of  taking  care  of 
himself.  But  he  only  laughed  and  said  that 
there  was  no  hurry;  that  he  had  his  boys  to 
look  after;  and  that  his  strong,  red-haired, 
broad-chested  outdoor  Scotch  ancestry  had 
all  drawn  heavily  upon  old  Father  Time's 
patience,  all  living  to  the  comfortable  age  of 
ninety-six  or  ninety-eight;  and  then  they  had 
passed  the  border-line  during  calm  sleep,  more 
out  of  consideration  for  the  growing-space 
needed  by  the  young  than  from  any  acute  ill- 
ness! 

But  speaking  of  Dr.  Forrester  reminds  me 
that  I  have  not  told  the  greatest  news  of  all. 
Mildred  and  I  have  three  of  his  patients  in 
charge  at  this  very  time!  They  are  fixed  so 
comfortably  in  three  little  white  cots  out  in  the 
sun-porch  that  Billy  planned  for  me  so  beauti- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     333 

fully  the  very  last  thing  before  his  dreadful 
accident.  They  are  such  serious  cases,  these 
little  boy-captains,  that  Dr.  Forrester  simply 
could  not  wait  until  the  the  new  hospital  is  re- 
modeled, though  he  has  six  men  working  on  it 
all  the  time.  He  thought  their  chance  for  re- 
covery would  be  very  much  impaired  unless  he 
got  them  out  of  their  sordid  conditions  at  once ; 
but  he  couldn't  think  of  a  place  to  "board  them 
out,"  where  he  felt  that  there  would  be  com- 
plete reliability  and  understanding.  You  know 
so  many  of  our  best  people  close  their  houses 
and  go  back  to  the  turmoil  of  city-life  just  when 
nature  is  painting  her  grandest  pictures  here, 
and  when  the  air  is  fairly  charged  with  ozone 
over  mountains  and  valley !  As  soon  as  I  heard 
of  his  dilemma  I  made  him  bring  the  three  dear 
little  fellows  straight  to  me.  We  have  a  most 
capable  nurse,  but  Mildred  and  I  spend  much 
of  our  time  with  them  voluntarily.  And,  oh, 
how  they  love  Mildred!  I  wish  you  could  see 
the  eyes  of  those  little  captains  light  into  glory 


334     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

at  the  first  sight  of  her  tender  face.  I  would 
surely  think  that  nursing  ought  to  be  her  spe- 
cial calling — if  she  were  not  already  so  deeply 
needed  by  others.  It  is  a  great  comfort  to  her 
now,  for  though  she  accepts  your  explanation 
without  questioning  I  can  not  help  but  see  that 
she  is  changed  from  the  old  Mildred;  Ory's  un- 
explained silence  troubles  her  very  much. 

You  will  want  just  a  tiny  sketch  of  our  pa- 
tients I  know — so  here  it  is.  Mildred  will  write 
you  in  detail.  First  there  is  Ben,  a  veritable 
general  in  time  of  peril.  There  is  just  the  one 
chance  out  of  ten  for  him  and  he  knows  it !  At 
best  it  means  the  loss  of  both  his  legs.  He 
knows  that,  too.  Dr.  Forrester  believes  in  hav- 
ing the  patient  work  with  him,  and  to  do  this 
he  thinks  the  patient  should  have  full  knowledge 
of  what  just  one  slack  moment  in  a  plucky  fight 
might  do.  The  doctor  also  believes  that  the 
one  chance  will  predominate  in  the  case  of  Ben. 
The  little  lad  is  only  nine  but  so  splendidly 
full  of  grit!  Listen  to  his  odd  but  heartfelt 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     335 

prayer.  It  fills  Mildred's  and  my  eyes  with 
tears  each  time  we  hear  it.  Even  the  nurse 
has  to  turn  away  when  he  folds  his  little  hands. 
This  is  it:  "God,  give  me  the  one  chance, 
please.  But  if  not  here,  then  give  me  the  ten 
chances  to  be  clear  well  in  heaven — for  Jesus' 
sake. ' ' 

Our  second  patient  is  Scotch  by  birth.  He 
has  very  red  thick  hair  and  white — far  too  white 
— skin.  His  eyes  are  brown  and  lustrous,  his 
lips  a  brilliant  red.  He  is  strikingly  beautiful. 
He  is  only  five.  But  all  those  five  long  years 
have  been  a  continual  struggle  for  breath.  His 
trouble  is  leakage  of  the  heart.  Dr.  Forrester 
thinks  that  with  our  good  air  and  most  care- 
ful food  and  nursing  perhaps — just  perhaps  I 

The  third  is  a  star-eyed  Italian  babe  of  three, 
wrested  from  the  Chicago  slums.  He  lies  al- 
most continually  on  softest  pillows,  for  the 
slightest  movements  give  him  agonizing  pain. 
Not  that  he  ever  complains.  His  eyes  are  a  per- 
fect tragedy — a  mute  questioning  as  to  why  the 


336     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

appalling  misery  of  diseased  hips  had  to  meet 
him  at  the  very  threshold  of  Birth;  but  it  is 
seldom  that  the  colorless  lips  ever  part  to  let 
out  a  cry.  Mildred  and  I  call  him  "Little 
Miracle."  We  are  thankful  to  receive  the  les- 
sons these  little  ones  teach  us.  It  shows  us  how 
to  shield  our  own  sorrows  and  our  own  weak 
complaints  within  a  veil  of  attempted  silence. 

Sometimes  I  think  these  little  ones  will  be 
Mildred's  saving-grace  if  the  time  ever  comes 
when  she  has  to  fight  out  the  one  fierce  bat- 
tle of  her  life.  For  she  loves  Ory ;  oh,  how  she 
loves  Ory!  The  very  mention  of  his  name 
throws  a  light  of  joy  unspeakable  across  her 
sweet  soulful  face.  But  you  have  so  long 
trained  her  that  a  man  must  be  the  com- 
plete master  of  his  impulses  to  mean  anything 
at  all  in  life;  and  she  is  drinking  in  so  deeply 
each  day  from  Dr.  Forrester  and  from  the 
tragedy  hovering  over  the  lives  of  our  little 
boys  that  hereditary  weaknesses  call  for  com- 
pound-interest in  belated  statements,  that  I 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     337 

sometimes  wonder  whether,  though  we  will 
surely  be  able  to  exonerate  Ory  completely  our- 
selves, we  could  persuade  her  to  the  same  opin- 
ion. For  Mildred  is  a  captain  of  captains  at 
heart.  She  would  remain  by  whatever  she  con- 
sidered the  just  decision,  no  matter  how  fierce, 
how  bitter,  her  own  unmerited  pain.  I  am  glad 
you  sent  her  off  to  Wilburs '.  I  imagine  man  is 
a  pleasant,  vigorous,  but  comfortably  erring 
enough  mortal  in  that  practical  little  woman's 
mind! 

Teddy,  I  never  before  realized  how  anxiously 
one  can  wait  and  watch  for  the  postman,  only 
to  feel  greatest  dread  and  panic  about  opening 
what  he  brings.  It  seems  to  me  each  time  I 
read  poor  Ory's  bravely  honest  letters  that  I 
can  never  struggle  through  the  pathos  of  con- 
ditions surrounding  some  of  the  characters  he 
depicts,  or  the  responsibility  of  another.  And 
yet  before  I  have  even  returned  one  to  the  en- 
velope, I  find  my  heart  and  glance — burning 
restlessly  for  the  return  of  the  executioner,  the 


338     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

mailman,  who  will  put  a  fresh  torture  in  my 
hands. 

Poor  little  "Kiddo."  How  I  trust  that  Ory 
will  get  the  proof  of  the  blessed  news  that  she 
did  find  her  one  friend.  And  yet  who  of  the 
type  that  would  be  truly  best  able  to  help  her 
would  be  brave  enough  to  receive  her!  And 
poor,  poor  Jarvis,  so  full  of  talent  and  soul- 
worth,  if  his  early  efforts  had  only  been  guided 
aright,  and  his  hereditary  gifts  the  least  bit 
justly  tried  out !  It  seems  impossible  to  think 
that  it  is  too  late  to  stir  better  aims  deep  within 
his  soul.  I  long  to  rush  forth  and  find  and 
help  him.  But  Dr.  Forrester  says  that  is  one 
of  the  greatest  evils  resultant  from  marriage 
with  those  of  alcoholic  habits.  So  often  the 
very  best  from  both  sides  of  the  family  is  there, 
latent,  within  such  a  man,  but  weak  heredity 
makes  him  dawdle  with  opportunity  for  growth 
and  takes  away  the  Chance  of  Appeal  to  his  real 
but  very  dormant  self.  Thanks  to  the  lessons 
I  have  already  gleaned  from  our  three  little 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     339 

captains,  I  think  I  am  growing  better  able  to  dis- 
miss most  vivid  personal  consideration  of  Mil- 
dred and  Ory  just  long  enough  to  look  upon  the 
matter  fairly  as  a  type  of  question  that  concerns 
deeply  not  merely  individual  cases  but  the  bet- 
terment of  the  whole  world.  But  still  there  has 
been  no  wantonness  with  Ory,  no  cruelty,  no 
grossness,  only  startling  indiscretion  at  times, 
and,  withal,  splendid  honesty.  Surely  he  is  not 
even  "a  type."  And  Mildred — ah,  may  the 
dear  Heavenly  Father  help  us  to  find  the  hon- 
est solution  to  this  and  all  like  matters  without 
so  much  as  hurting  a  hair  of  her  beautiful  head  1 
With  so  much  love,  and  joy  at  the  thought  of 
your  holiday  visit  with  us EBNESTINE. 


LETTER  XXIV 

From  Holland  to  Aliston.  Concerning  a 
Call  upon  the  Woman  of  Non-Conventional 
Views,  and  News  of  the  Country  Sweet- 
heart. Pine  View  Hotel.  December  First. 

DEAR  ED: 

Jarvis  worked  so  faithfully  with  me  in  my 
search  for  the  little  girl  that  we  actually  hit 
upon  the  important  and  comforting  fact  that  she 
did  find  the  one  true  friend.  A  veritable  old 
hag  of  a  landlady,  toothless,  cracked-voiced,  her 
skin  running  in  chasms  and  valleys  of  wrinkles, 
whom  Jarvis  whispered  aside  to  me  had  once 
been  called  the  "Orchid  Lady"  at  fashionable 
hotel  dinners  on  account  of  her  beauty  and  wit, 
was  our  informant.  Age  and  drugs  had  sapped 
all  bloom,  snuffed  out  all  but  the  fiercely  sordid 

340 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     341 

from  this  old  soul's  life,  but  her  recollection  of 
past  events  was  astounding.  She  urged  her  to 
go  away  with  a  friend.  When  consulted,  how- 
ever, this  busy  worker  could  only  report  that  she 
remembered  a  girl  by  the  name  of  Craig  had 
gone  out  somewhere  into  a  country-home,  where 
she  was  to  be  given  a  chance  to  begin  life  anew. 
There  had  been  such  heart-interest  in  poor 
Jarvis's  every  move,  that  I  could  not  but  hope 
that  I  might  still  call  him  into  an  awakening  of 
manliness.  This  one  thing  he  lacks,  however, 
from  birth,  stability  of  purpose.  I  found  him 
next  morning  in  a  very  sordid  boarding-house 
in  the  stupor  of  a  drugged  and  liquored  condi- 
tion that  threatened  to  wrap  him  in  a  veil  of 
imbecility  for  many  days.  All  I  could  do  was 
to  leave  him  a  note,  stating  the  name  of  the 
bank  where  I  had  left  him  a  roll  of  money. 
Part  of  the  sum,  if  he  accepts  it  all,  poor  proud 
boy,  he  will  spend  on  oblivion  dopes ;  part  will 
go,  and  the  larger  share,  toward  helping  some 
one  even  more  miserable  than  himself.  I  also 


342     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

entreated  him  to  return  to  the  wife  who,  no 
doubt,  waits  for  him  still,  tender,  forgiving, 
hoping  for  his  footsteps  at  the  fall  of  each  day, 
and  to  the  little  daughter,  whose  affliction  it  is 
for  him  to  bear  as  bravely  and  as  hopefully  as 
possible  with  his  wife,  now  that  it  is  upon  them. 
God  grant  that  he  may  take  heart  again,  even  at 
this  late  moment. 

With  the  glad  thought  that  the  Girl  in  the 
Land  of  Shadow  had  really  found  a  true  friend, 
I  took  the  train  immediately  at  Polk  Street 
Station  for  my  present  destination,  arriving 
yesterday  at  noon.  At  once  I  ascertained  from 
an  elderly  aunt  of  mine,  the  fact  that  Elinor 
Phelps  was  no  longer  a  dashing,  daring  author, 
but  the  capable  wife  of  a  noted  surgeon,  Howard 
Van  Nest.  She  was  so  busy  with  her  beautiful 
home,  I  was  assured;  so  attentive  to  the  every 
need  of  her  husband  and  the  little  girl  twins 
that  when  she  wrote  at  all  it  was  only  a  little 
"on  the  side"  after  earnest  appeals  from  her 
former  editors. 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     343 

You  can  realize,  Ed,  that  even  my  desire  to 
investigate  to  the  fullest  the  result  of  all  of 
my  erratic  wanderings  of  youth  did  not  lend 
me  the  temerity  of  considering  a  call  upon  Mrs. 
Howard  Van  Nest!  I  had  ascertained  that  the 
"Beautiful  Cataract'*  was  chained  at  last  into 
voluntary  and  most  pleasant  laws  of  conven- 
tion, having  followed  the  custom  of  most  mor- 
tals after  all,  by  choosing  the  path  of  matri- 
mony. As  the  Van  Nest  lawn  and  rustic-effect 
garden  were  noted  far  and  wide,  however,  I  de- 
termined to  take  a  stroll  past  the  spacious 
grounds  before  making  my  train,  to  get  a 
glimpse  of  the  artistic  abandon  of  landscape 
planning. 

It  was  early  afternoon,  when  I  followed  the 
wide  avenue  a  mile  or  so  under  the  leafless, 
but  graceful  limbs  of  as  handsome  a  row  of 
maples  as  I  had  ever  met.  At  the  end  of  this 
friendly  stretch  of  branches,  I  came  to  the 
heavily  wrought  iron  gates  that  stood  wide 
open  for  any  visitor  to  enter  that  chose.  For 


344     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

a  moment  I  paused  under  their  broad  arch  in 
indecision  as  to  which  course  to  take.  It 
seemed  odd  for  me,  once  granted  almost  every 
boon,  to  be  entering  now,  an  alien,  into  the 
estate  of  my  former  Lurer  from  Convention. 
But  the  sight  was  too  tempting  to  resist,  even 
though  I  had  to  view  it  in  the  garb  of  a  stranger. 
On  three  sides  the  lawn  ran  down  from  a  mag- 
nificent stone  house,  into  sheltered  groves  of 
maples  and  elms,  and,  at  the  east,  to  meet  a 
capricious  little  brook  that  still  gurgled  a  pro- 
test under  its  first  light  coating  of  ice.  But  on 
the  fourth  side  the  brook,  twisting  and  twining 
its  way  under  its  fetters  with  seeming  scorn  of 
definite  outline,  suddenly  broadened  so  that  a 
rustic  bridge  was  necessary  to  gain  its  opposite 
side.  Then  it  narrowed  again  and  disappeared 
into  a  dense  woods,  also  a  part  of  the  rich  es- 
tate. This  later  course,  toward  the  rustic 
bridge,  just  visible  through  a  heavy  clump  of 
weeping-willows,  I  chose  for  my  walk  of  in- 
spection. 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     345 

Each  step  was  so  freighted  with  new  discov- 
eries of  artistic  and  thoughtful  planning,  to 
meet  and  please  the  eye,  that  I  was  fully  upon 
the  edge  of  the  rustic  bridge  before  I  was  aware 
that  a  very  beautiful  woman  was  standing  di- 
rectly upon  the  other  end,  her  glance  fastened 
earnestly  upon  a  group  of  discouraged  ducks 
that  waddled  over  the  thin  sheet  of  ice  in  search 
of  flowing  water. 

My  attempt  to  turn  immediately  and  beat  a 
hasty  retreat  roused  the  woman.  She  lifted 
her  head  and  threw  aside  the  soft  gray  fur  that 
had  lain  high  against  her  cheeks.  The  next 
moment  I  was  gazing  into  the  lovely  dark  as- 
tonished eyes  of  Elinor  Phelps — Van  Nest! 

Wildly  I  sought  for  some  feasible  excuse  for 
my  intrusion,  but  Elinor  Phelps  met  my  apology 
by  coming  quickly  toward  me,  both  hands  out- 
stretched in  a  smiling  greeting.  "Why,  Orison 
Holland,"  she  exclaimed  warmly,  "of  all  men 
on  earth  I  am  most  glad  to  welcome  you!  Do 
you  remember  the  mud-hens  that  had  such  times 


346     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

rising  out  of  the  mass  of  pond-lilies  and  aquatic- 
plants  in  the  Wisconsin  woods?  Well,  the 
clumsy  movements  of  those  ridiculous  old 
ducks  reminded  me  so  of  them  that  I  was  just 
thinking  of  our — of  my  erstwhile  rash  exper- 
iment into  which  I  so  unkindly  forced 
you." 

From  any  one  but  Elinor  Phelps  this  frank 
reversion  to  darkened  history  would  have 
seemed  in  most  questionable  taste,  almost  ap- 
palling. But  in  the  forcefulness  and  fascina- 
tion of  her  beautiful  personality,  it  stood  out 
as  a  touch  of  bravery  hard  to  surpass. 

An  old  gardener  came  up  just  then  and  lift- 
ing a  strong,  peaceful  face  to  his  mistress  asked 
for  special  directions  concerning  some  plants 
that  were  to  be  set  out  that  day  in  the  con- 
servatory. In  the  distance  I  noticed  two  young 
boys  busy  wrapping  foliage-roots  with  an  extra 
thickness  of  straw  against  a  reported  heavy 
storm.  Up  at  the  house,  high  on  the  hill,  a 
gleaming  blue  auto  entered  the  porte-cochere. 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     347 

A  butler  came  out  at  once,  his  buttons  dazzling 
even  at  that  distance  in  the  sunlight.  A  maid 
followed  him  with  a  closely  wrapped  bundle  in 
her  arms,  and  entered  the  auto.  She  was 
joined  immediately  by  a  staunch-looking  elderly 
woman,  evidently  a  housekeeper  or  governess, 
who  clasped  closely  another  very  similar 
bundle. 

Mrs.  Van  Nest  followed  my  glance,  as  she 
dismissed  the  old  gardener  with  a  kind  word 
of  encouragement  for  his  unfailing  toil  and  in- 
terest. "The  good  God  has  been  very  merci- 
ful, Ory,"  she  began  as  seemingly  irrelevantly 
as  before.  "So  good  a  man  is  Dr.  Van  Nest 
that  he  never  thinks  of  himself,  only  of  the  toils 
and  cries  of  others.  My  greatest  joy  is  to 
smooth  out  whatever  wrinkles  I  can  for  him  in 
his  life  of  complete  self-surrender.  And  our 
little  girls!  Oh,  you  must  come  in  and  take 
tea  with  Dr.  Van  Nest  and  me,  and  let  me  show 
you  the  twins.  They  are  just  going  out  for 
their  daily  ride  now,  as  you  see;  but  they'll  be 


348     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

in  for  inspection  by  five.  Then  I  know  you'll 
agree  with  me  that  God  never  made  two  such 
wholesome  adorable  little  girls  before." 

"They  could  not  help  but  be  that,"  I  mur- 
mured tritely,  utter  astonishment  at  Elinor's 
frankness  and  easy  friendliness  rendering  me 
miserably  unable  to  cope  fully  with  the  situa- 
tion. 

"And  now  I  am  permitted  to  have  the  talk 
with  you  that  I  have  longed  to  have  all  these 
years.  Oh,  how  undeserving  I  am  of  so  much 
happiness  and — peace!" 

"If  it  will  give  you  any  peace — "  I  began 
highly  distressed,  but  she  met  my  surmises  with 
an  odd  little  laugh.  "Don't  look  so  troubled, 
Ory,"  she  begged.  "It  will  all  be  over  in  a 
moment.  I  am  afraid  I  would  not  make  a  good 
Catholic.  I  am  not  much  on  long  confessions. 
I  just  want  to  say  again  that  I  am  very,  very 
sorry  that  it  ever  happened ;  woefully  sorry  that 
in  my  utter  selfishness  I  gave  the  misery  of  it 
to  you,  too,  a  good  man,  to  bear." 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     349 

I  would  have  spoken,  but  she  held  up  a  hand 
and  led  me  to  a  rustic  bench  that  commanded  a 
splendid  view  of  the  woods.  "You  love  the 
cold,  too?  It  will  not  harm  you  to  sit  here  just 
a  few  moments  longer!  Then  we  will  go  in  for 
a  cup  of  strong  hot  coffee. ' '  Her  face  suddenly 
clouded  with  tensest  feeling.  "Ory,  I  must 
hurry  on  while  I  have  the  courage.  Perhaps 
it's  wickedly  bold  and  wrong,  but  I  must.  I 
think  it  will  help  you,  too.  After  I  left  you 
that  night  and  for  many,  many  months,  I  suf- 
fered so  fiercely  that  if  I  could  have  possibly 
taken  my  life  I  would  have  done  so.  But  some- 
thing held  me  ever  from  the  consummation  of 
that  foolishly  weak  act.  Then  when  I  was  in 
my  deepest  frenzy,  I  came,  through  no  other 
source  than  the  hand  of  a  merciful  Providence 
I  am  sure,  into  the  knowledge  that  Dr.  Van  Nest 
understood  as  no  other  man  how  to  touch  and 
heal  writhing  souls.  I  went  to  him.  He  would 
hear  of  no  real  explanation  from  the  start. 
That  has  been  and  always  will  be  my  deserved 


350     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

punishment,  Ory.  I  must  know  that  I  failed  in 
highest  womanhood  at  a  crucial  moment,  and 
trust  and  hope  and  believe  that  the  man  most 
dear  to  me  understands  all  this,  even  though  he 
insists  upon  taking  me  upon  faith  alone  with- 
out explanation  or  confession." 

A  gentle  smile  relieved  the  pained  twist  of 
the  sensitive  lips.  Then  with  her  characteris- 
tic quick  flash  of  moods  she  laughed  softly. 
"What  do  you  think  Doctor  told  me,  Ory? 
Perhaps  it  may  help  you  if  you  ever  come  into 
a  moment  of  deepest  grief.  He  said:  'You  tell 
me  that  you  have  every  reason  for  happiness 
so  far  as  earthly  attainments  and  perfect  phys- 
ical strength  are  concerned;  yet  I  find  you 
plunged  in  utter  gloom.  Yours  is  a  soul-cry, 
then — the  kind  that  it  takes  the  deepest  grit 
and  best  moral  strength  to  bear.  But  you  can- 
not give  up;  you  must  go  on.  You  mean  too 
much  to  life  and  life  far  too  much  to  you  to 
make  it  feasible  for  you  to  lie  down  on  the 
battle-field,  a  defeated  and  mangled  and  useless 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     351 

soldier,  because  you  foolishly  touched  a  match 
to  the  wrong  end  of  a  fuse.  Now  say  that  per- 
haps you  have  murdered  your  uncle — then  take 
it  for  granted  that  your  uncle  ought  to  have 
been  murdered,  or  that  you  were  not  at  all  your- 
self when  you  did  it,  until  you  are  strong 
enough  to  feel  repentance  as  an  incentive  to  re- 
newed attempts,  rather  than  as  a  goad  to  utter 
and  miserable  defeat.'  : 

"If  all  of  us  could  only  become  philosophers 
to  the  point  of  never  giving  up  till  the  last  gasp, 
no  matter  what  our  mistakes,"  I  exclaimed 
with  involuntary  admiration  for  the  creed  of 
the  skillful  surgeon. 

"Dr.  Van  Nest  has  helped  and  will  help  multi- 
tudes, just  by  his  perfect  honesty  and  power  of 
encouraging  till  his  patients  are  able  to  stand 
alone,"  Elinor  said  in  worshipful  tones.  Then 
she  added,  * '  And  even  when  I  told  the  doctor  it 
was  not  near  as  excusable  as  fearful  physical 
murder,  but  a  great  moral  soul-question  that 
was  involved,  he  took  my  hand  and  said  in 


352     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

low  solemn  tones : '  Child,  have  you  ever  thought 
of  the  promise  that  the  soul  cannot  die?  And 
if  no  wound  is  truly  mortal,  would  you,  then, 
permit  one  fearful  gruesome  scar  upon  its  sur- 
face to  mar  all  future  chances  for  you  to  come 
into  the  Real?  No,  you  can  not  and  will  not  I 
Go  to  the  One  Great  Physician  of  all  for  help, 
and  then  listen  to  the  blessed  gracious  verdict 
He  has  invariably  given  even  to  the  most  dis- 
tressed criminal  that  pleads,  when  He  tells  him 
to  rise,  take  up  his  bed  and  walk,  and  also  as- 
sures him  that  his  faith  in  wanting  to  be  healed 
at  all  has  made  him  whole.'  " 

The  short  winter  twilight  had  dropped  into 
gentle  shadow  when  Elinor  Phelps  and  I  were 
again  aware  of  our  surroundings.  We  had 
both  been  wrapped  in  a  peace  of  conviction 
that  passed  any  description;  and  again  I  found 
myself  forgetting  my  own  misery  for  the  mo- 
ment in  the  hope  that  even  yet  poor  Jarvis 
could  be  touched  and  made  to  go  into  his  house 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     353 

healed  and  full  of  faith.  I  intended  fully  now 
to  take  his  care  before  Dr.  Van  Ness  for  aid. 

"Do  you  remember  my  cowardly  remarks 
concerning  the  simplicity  of  Mabel  Harris, 
Ory?"  Elinor  Phelps  broke  in  upon  my 
thoughts  of  the  drunken  derelict  with  evident 
determination  to  snatch  away  all  possibility  of 
delusion  concerning  the  past.  "Well,  that  just 
shows  how  utterly  foolish  I  was  then  about  the 
real  meaning  of  life.  How  seldom  one  has  to  go 
outside  the  hedge  to  find  the  real !  Often  if  he 
attempts  it,  things  take  on  the  nature  of  the  will- 
o '-the- wisp  and  lead  him  an  aimless  shamble 
here  and  there.  From  her  bees,  Mabel  Harris 
learned  the  first  principles  of  community-serv- 
ice. From  her  quiet  efficient  business-life  on 
the  farm  she  laid  the  first  character  stones  of 
reliability  and  capability,  which  is  so  invalu- 
able to  herself,  her  husband  and  to  all  of  us 
now." 

"Mabel  is  married  then!"  I  questioned  with 
no  heart-pang  but  a  real  thrill  of  admiration  as 


354    THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

I  recalled  her  steady  unselfish  life  on  the  little 
farm. 

Elinor  smiled.  "Yes,  to  a  good  whole- 
some, common-sense  wealthy  farmer — just  the 
type  for  her,  and  the  man  to  whom  she  can 
mean  the  most.  It  is  only  in  the  composition 
of  salads  that  mortals  can  afford  to  deal  reck- 
lessly with  the  mixing  of  opposites — the  sweet 
and  the  sour,  the  hot  and  the  mild,  the  touch  of 
brilliant  biting  pepper,  and  the  spray  of  gentle- 
toned  green  parsley.  In  matrimony  it  seems, 
invariably,  a  miserable  risk!" 

"Do  you  see  Mabel  often?"  I  questioned 
again. 

"Almost  daily."  Elinor  Phelps  answered 
happily.  "Why,  she  is  one  of  our  big  club- 
leaders,  not  eloquent,  but  right  on  the  spot  with 
logic  and  common-sense.  It  was  she  who 
turned  the  schoolhouses  into  social-centers  in 
our  poorer  districts ;  she  who  set  the  city  hum- 
ming in  doing  all  in  its  power  to  make  ours  a 
city  beautiful.  She  is  interested  in  the  single- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     355 

standard  now.  I  only  wish  you  could  hear  the 
clear,  sensible  talks  she  gives  to  the  young  girls 
and  men.  That  is  a  period  that  interests  her 
intensely.  She  believes  that  young  women  can 
help  so  much  by  eschewing  the  suggestive  in 
dress  and  manner,  and  expecting  and  demanding 
the  best.  She  insists  every  young  man  wants  to 
be  moral,  but  just  needs  a  little  friendly  interest, 
and  a  lot  of  gymnastic  work  to  come  out  a 
fine  sound  fellow.  The  ground  for  the  new 
gymnasium  and  several  thousand  for  the  build- 
ing were  given  to  the  city  by  her  husband  and 
herself.  Dr.  Van  Nest  and  all  our  young  people 
think  her  invaluable  as  a  jolly,  practical  aid 
in  all  matters,  serious  or  light.  And  yet  there 
is  no  such  wife  or  mother  (for  she  has  the  dear- 
est little  boy)  or  no  such  cook  or  home-manager 
within  a  million  miles.  Her  father  is  passing 
a  most  comfortable  and  tenderly  cared-for  old 
age  within  her  home.  Betty,  the  colored  cook, 
though  utterly  useless  now,  is  tended  as  one  of 
the  very  family.  Her  little  boy's  ways  ring 


356     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

so  sweet  and  true.  Oh,  I  tell  you,  Ory,  Mabel 
Harris  Frackleton  is  the  rare  type  of  woman 
who  early  recognizes  the  truth  that  Life  is  to 
be  found  in  its  truest  sense  right  at  one's  own 
doorstep — and  knows  that  one  does  not  have 
to  invade  the  lurid  or  reckless  to  be  best  schol- 
ared  in  the  art  of  meeting  the  Beal!" 

The  blue  auto  rolled  slowly  up  the  drive,  and 
twins  and  twin-bearers  were  assisted  down  by 
the  chauffeur.  At  once  Elinor  Van  Nest 
sprang  to  her  feet  with  a  glow  of  beautiful 
solicitude.  " Bless  their  dear  hearts,"  she  ex- 
claimed with  strongest  maternal  pride.  "Now 
you  shall  soon  see  the  beauties.  They  are  both 
exactly  like  their  father.  I  am  so  very,  very 
glad!" 

"But — "  I  hesitated  awkwardly  enough,  the 
ethics  of  the  occasion  seeming  to  demand  that 
I  should  not  become  one  of  the  intimate  family 
circle  or  dine  at  a  table  where,  perhaps,  if  the 
facts  were  known,  I  should  not  be  tolerated  for 
a  moment. 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     357 

"Nonsense!'*  Elinor  interrupted  my  hesi- 
tancy, interpreting  my  thoughts  most  easily. 
"You  must  come !  Forget  that  It  was  all  my 
fault.  And  even  if  Dr.  Van  Nest  would  listen 
to  the  uprooting  of  past  history,  I  know  he  is 
too  honest  to  put  the  weakness  or  blame  any 
more  on  your  side  than  mine."  She  drew  a 
long  worshipful  breath.  "Ah,  that  is  his 
grandest  aim — the  single  standard  in  every- 
thing. Right  is  right  and  wrong  is  wrong,  no 
matter  what  the  sex  conditions  or  standing! 
This  he  firmly  believes :  and  that  with  both  men 
and  women  awakening  to  the  importance  of  this 
truth,  much  more  can  now  be  done  than  in  the 
days  when  the  subject  was  considered  so  awful 
as  to  be  unmentionable  by  one  sex  at  least.  I 
glory  in  his  faith,  and  mean  to  help  him  all  I 
can ! ' ' 

We  were  approaching  the  top  of  the  last 
slope  now  that  led  on  to  the  broad  level  of  lawn 
upon  which  the  mansion  stood.  Elinor  paused 
and  waved  a  hand  toward  a  new  sanitarium, 


358     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

which  was  rising  rapidly,  a  glistening  white 
monument  to  all  sane  advanced  methods  in 
medical  understanding.  ' '  Ory,  I  know  you  will 
not  misunderstand  me,"  she  said  earnestly,  "if 
I  dwell  just  another  moment  on  the  subject; 
for  you  are  a  type  of  men  whose  help  we  most 
need.  You  understand  the  value  of  the  real 
and  the  moral,  and  the  duty  we  owe  posterity. 
That  hospital  is  being  built  by  Dr.  Van  Nest 
himself  for  afflicted  men.  Of  course  he  will  ac- 
cept patients  with  any  non-contagious  disease, 
but  when  it  is  a  question  of  a  man  that  ought  to 
be  ostracized  from  society,  Dr.  Van  Nest  is  de- 
termined to  depart  so  far  from  the  usual  pro- 
cedure as  to  refuse  accepting  him  in  the  hospital 
until  he  pledges  solemnly  to  live  his  life  apart 
as  any  moral  leper  should  until  he  is  sure  of 
his  right  to  mingle  with  the  best ! 

1 1  You  think  this  erratic,  I  suppose.  Most  men 
are  prone,  even  yet,  to  regard  any  real  action 
upon  this  important  subject  as  visionary  or 
horribly  unbecoming  as  a  topic  at  all,  and  above 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     359 

all,  for  women.  But  whatever  the  stamp  that 
was  set  upon  Cain  by  an  all-seeing  Providence, 
it  was,  no  doubt,  as  much  for  a  warning  that  his 
nature  was  not — we  will  say — genial,  as  for  a 
complete  protection  for  himself.  Is  it  any 
more  erratic,  then,  for  those  of  us  who  wish 
purity  of  morals  to  wish  to  stamp  the  Soul- 
Murderer?  Cain  (as  a  type)  struck  at  the  phys- 
ical life  only.  Immoral  men  strike  at  the  souls 
not  only  of  suffering  woman — and  I  grant  that 
they  in  turn  recoil  with  as  much  danger  and 
vengeance — but  at  the  moral  and  physical  wel- 
fare of  poor  helpless  children  for  generations 
to  come!" 

"If  the  mothers  are  growing  interested,  the 
question  can  no  longer  lie  dormant,  at  least," 
I  assured  Elinor. 

"Yes,  but  that  is  the  almost  incredible  part 
of  it  all,"  Mrs.  Van  Nest  protested  quickly. 
"Dr.  Van  Nest  tells  me  that  in  many  cases  the 
thoughtless  mothers  of  beautiful  young  daugh- 
ters are  the  last  ones  to  become  alarmed  or  even 


360     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

interested.  Why,  hundreds  of  young  men,  as 
you  know,  are  inmates  of  sanitariums  in  the 
daytime  (broken  down  from  their  noble  ef- 
forts in  college,  or  their  tense  application,  later, 
to  their  father's  business,  we  are  asked  to 
believe)  who  of  evenings  are  most  welcome 
guests  in  many  a  refined  home.  The  lines  of 
dissipation  on  their  faces  are  excused  for  lines 
of  overstrained  mentality  (God  save  the  mark) 
and  the  mothers  try  to  believe  the  best  because 
they  feel  that  this  or  that  Disintegrate  is  of  a 
well-pursed  highly  honored  family.  They  not 
only  welcome  him  as  a  possible  parti  for  the 
daughter's  hand,  but  even  make  possible  the 
secluded  corners,  the  low-lit,  too  sweet  con- 
servatory, the  moonlight  drives — anything  or 
everything  that  will  make  speedy  his  unworthy 
lover-clasp  upon  the  daughter's  hitherto  pure 
impulsive  soul!  It  is  these  mothers  Mabel 
Harris,  Dr.  Van  Nest,  and  a  legion  of  others  are 
trying  to  awaken.  It  is  the  doctor's  hope,  too, 
that  all  interested  intelligent  mothers  will  unite 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     361 

speedily  in  the  vital  resolve  of  asking  a  man 
to  have  a  right  to  enter,  even  as  a  casual  friend. 
You  know  this  has  always  been  thought  a  pru- 
dent, almost  obligatory  act,  to  observe,  with 
reckless  women !  And  just  picture  even  a  poor 
stupid  little  wren-mother,  Ory,  inviting  a  blue- 
jay,  whom  she  knows  has  torn  up  a  neighbor- 
home,  into  her  own  nest  of  young  ones !  Sim- 
ply because  he  has  fine  blue  feathers !  Oh,  Ory, 
I  am  changed — changed — changed.  I  thank 
the  good  God  daily  for  inspiring  man  with  a 
firm  respect  for  convention's  demands,  and  I'll 
more  than  welcome  every  new  safeguard  law 
that  comes  my  way!" 

A  red  auto,  driven  by  a  colored  chauffeur, 
turned  into  the  driveway  at  this  moment 
Elinor  Van  Nest  sprang  a  step  or  two  forward 
with  a  cry  of  welcome.  "Ah,  here  is  Dr.  Van 
Nest!  I'll  wave  him  right  over  on  this  drive 
to  meet  you,  and  to  take  us  this  last  climb  up  the 
hill." 

In  another  moment  I  felt  my  hand  being 


362     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

seized  warmly  by  a  tall  man,  who  sprang  out 
the  instant  his  auto  reached  us.  He  had  most 
likable  eyes,  a  warm  grasp,  and  owned  the  stal- 
wart frame  and  deep  voice  of  the  type  that  used 
to  make  up  almost  entirely  the  Middle  West. 

"Frank  Orison  Holland!  Ah,  that  is  a  good 
name  to  hear!"  he  said,  as  he  lifted  his  pretty 
wife  and  tucked  her  proudly  in  among  a  rich 
bedding  of  fur  robes.  "I  am  so  glad  you 
thought  to  come  to  us.  I  want  to  tell  you  over 
the  tea-table  just  how  much  good  a  lecture  your 
father  gave  us  young  fellows  once  at  college 
did  us.  He  was  a  very  distinguished  man, 
Holland.  He  always  carried  the  impression 
of  knowing  whereof  he  spoke,  not  just  talking 
theories.  I  remember  his  topic  that  time  was 
'Why  Tarry  by  the  Roadside,  while  the  Wide 
World  Calls?'  I  was  an  intolerably  lazy, 
dawdling  young  fellow  then.  I've  never  dared 
waste  a  moment  since ! ' ' 

"That  is  the  reason  the  twins  are  so  ener- 
getic," Elinor  laughed  softly,  as  the  auto 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     363 

started  into  careful  ascent,  the  doctor  having 
taken  his  place  in  front,  I,  in  the  seat  assigned 
beside  his  wife. 

"Ah,  those  blessed  twins!'*  Dr.  Van  Nest's 
eyes  turned  an  almost  haloed  glance  upon  his 
wife's  happy  face.  "You  certainly  must  see 
them,  Holland.  They  are  exactly  like  their 
mother.  I  am  so  very,  very  glad!" 


LETTER  XXV 

Holland  to  Aliston  Concerning  the  Lat- 
ter's  Sister.  December  Sixth. 

ED: 

The  record  of  past  events  is  at  an  end.  I 
have  given  it  as  honestly  and  impartially  as  I 
knew  how.  In  many  cases  the  very  words  and 
looks  are  emblazoned  in  my  heart.  I  have 
written  them  thus  to  you. — And  now  the  ques- 
tion— 

I  can  not  feel,  though  deeply  racked  with  re- 
gret for  every  reckless  act  of  youth,  that  my 
life  has  ever  been  sensuous  or  wanton.  I  do 
know  that  for  the  last  few  years,  since  I  entered 
"Williston  and  Williston's  I  have  applied  my- 
self most  strenuously  to  the  work  and  lived  a 
moral  life  entirely  exempt  from  any  weakness 
whatsoever.  I  am  also  convinced  that  my 

364 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     365 

habits  are  fixed,  and  my  feet  planted  determin- 
edly on  the  one  straight  path.  Neither  by  in- 
clination or  urging  or  attempted  force,  would 
I  ever  return  to  the  wavering  or  carelessness 
of  my  earlier  days.  As  for  my  physical 
strength,  and  right  to  marry — I  am  quite  posi- 
tive I  could  fill  out  the  most  exacting  list  of 
rules  for  eugenic  marriage  very  satisfactorily. 
And  I  am  of  the  belief  that  not  by  one  judg- 
ment alone,  do  we  come  into  our  firmest  con- 
victions, but  by  devious  trials  and  careful 
weighing  of  matters,  we  finally  find  and  main- 
tain our  balance. 

But,  if  you  ask  me  if  I  feel  myself  able  to 
offer  what  I  would  expect  to  find  in  the  woman 
of  my  choice,  honesty  compels  me  to  say:  No, 
a  thousand  times,  No!  It  was  the  beautiful 
purity  of  your  sister's  face  that  led  me  to  love 
her  almost  at  once,  upon  that  June  evening 
when  you  invited  me  home  with  you  to  dinner. 
I  realized  that  her  heart  was  womanly  and  pure 
past  any  manner  of  flaw.  This  quality  you 


366     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

know  full  well  is  the  longing  of  every  man's 
heart  to  own  in  his  prospective  wife.  And  I 
believe  it  will  be  ever  the  quality  of  highest 
inspiration,  to  keep  us  strong. 

Ed,  you  can  not  possibly  imagine  just  how 
much  all  this  means  to  me ;  but  I  do  not  ask  you 
for  a  moment  to  withhold  any  information  I 
have  given  if  the  dictates  of  your  conscience 
make  it  seem  best  to  tell  her.  I  had  never  so 
loved  any  woman  before  I  met  her — for  an  en- 
gagement is  far  from  being  an  expression  of 
real  love  at  times — but  when  I  came  up  to  her 
that  soft  June  evening,  as  she  stood  on  the  top 
step  waiting  for  us,  in  her  gauzy  white,  her 
lovely  face  bright  with  a  light  of  welcome,  I 
felt  much  as  one  does  when  he  steps  from  a 
restless  noisy  world  into  a  big,  dimly  lit,  silent, 
beautiful  cathedral,  and  longs  to  drop  on  his 
knees  at  once  from  very  inspiration  and  per- 
fect peace.  At  once  Le  Gallienne's  love-verses 
flew  into  my  soul,  with  the  welcoming  touch  of 
Mildred's  soft  hand.  You  know  them: 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     367 

"Grace  o'  God 
Flower  Face, 
Silver  Feet, 
In  What  Place, 
Heaven  or  Earth 
Did  we  meett 
At  what  time 
Of  the  day! 
In  what  way  T 
Was  it  near! 
Was  it  fart 
In  some  star, 
Or  just  here, 
Quite,  quite  near?" 

And  then  his  other  beautiful  lines : 

"Dear  head,  dear  hair,  dear  hands,  dear  feet, 
Dear  love— dear  everything  complete ! ' ' 

Ed,  if  Mildred  can  not  give  me  her  love,  after 
you  have  explained  what  you  think  best,  it 
seems  to  me  now  that  I  shall  never  be  able  to 
feel  that  the  world  is  bright  for  me  again 
— that  I  can  not  possibly,  possibly  bear  it  1  But 
if  such  is  her  decision —  Oh,  I  must  not  be  a 
miserable  coward.  I  must  still  go  on — some- 
how, somewhere.  I  must.  I  can  not  trust  my- 


368     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

self  to  write  or  think  another  word  just  now. 
You  will  let  me  hear  soon — very,  very  soon, 
Ed  ?  Good-night OBISON. 


LETTER  XXVI 

Mrs.  William  Howard  Thompson  to  Ed- 
ward Clifton  Aliston.  December  Sixteenth. 

TEDDY : 

Now  that  the  fearsome  and  fearful  act  is 
over,  I  feel  myself  almost  upon  the  verge  of 
prostration. 

If  you  could  only  have  seen  Mildred's  face, 
Teddy,  when  I  broke  to  her  as  gently  as  pos- 
sible the  nature  of  Ory's  long-extended  errand, 
and  your  frequent  letters,  you  would  know  how 
deeply  this  scar  must  go,  if  she  considers  it  her 
duty  to  refuse  him.  All  the  time  I  spoke,  sit- 
ting in  our  bay-window  on  the  big  lounge  and 
holding  her  close  in  my  arms,  she  never  uttered 
a  word.  I  think  she  scarcely  breathed.  When 
I  had  finished  she  drew  a  long,  long  sigh  and 
fastened  her  cold  fingers  with  a  fierce  grip  into 
the  lace  of  my  gown.  "Tell  me,*'  she  whis- 

369 


370     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

pered  vehemently,  "tell  me  just  this  in  all 
solemn  truth,  dear  Ernestine,  it  cannot  be — it 
cannot — that  Ory  was  once  responsible  for — 
for  a  poor  deluded  woman  ever  having  to  live 
apart  from  the  critical  world;  or,  oh,  God  in 
heaven,  it  can't  be !  He  was  never  responsible, 
even  in  very  young  days,  for  unjust  conditions 
concerning  the — the  start  of  a  little  life?" 

Oh,  Teddy,  you  do  not  know  with  what  joy 
of  soul  I  was  able  to  assure  her  that  Ory's  oats 
had  been  of  the  reckless,  not  of  the  wickedly 
wanton  kind.  When  I  left  her,  at  her  own  re- 
quest, the  worst  pain  on  her  sweet  face  had 
given  place  to  a  puzzle  of  deep  thought.  Some- 
how I  believe — and,  oh,  I  pray — I  pray,  that 
there  will  be  the  happiest  kind  of  solution  for 
her  and  Ory  yet.  A  man  of  your  rare  judg- 
ment and  few  temptations  may  find  it  a  little 
hard  to  see  it  just  at  first.  But  surely  it  is 
right  for  Mildred  and  Ory  to  love.  If  you  think 
the  opposite,  I  must  actually  be  so  weak  as  to 
plead  with  you  to  forget  the  pity  of  reckless 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     371 

but  not  wickedly  wanton  years,  and  accept  Ory 
as  a  man  with  a  perfect  right  to  wed  our  little 
Mildred.  Since  the  good  God  forgives  so  many 
errors  of  the  past,  and  brings  the  truly  repent- 
ant heart  into  the  power  of  finest  service — who 
are  we  that  we  should  still  hang  upon  the  past 
in  the  very  evidence  of  a  most  manly  and  vigor- 
ous present?  But  whether  Mildred  will  ever 
see  it  this  way,  I  cannot  tell — I  cannot  telL 
Yours  most  lovingly EBNESTINB. 


LETTER  XXVII 

Aliston  in  Reply.    By  Night-Letter.    Re- 
ceived the  Morning  of  December  Eighteenth. 

ERNESTINE  : 

I  agree  with  you  perfectly  in  all  but  one 
part.  Since  you  state  yourself  that  the  weak- 
nesses of  past  years  should  be  forgotten  in  man 
in  case  of  real  repentance  and  assured  moral 
strength — why  not  extend  the  same  leniency  to 
the  other  side  t  There  was  but  one  weak  act  on 
the  part  of  Harriet  Gr.  Eeinstatement  in  life 
and  rights  of  marriage  are  of  as  infinitely  great 
value  to  her  as  to  0.  There  is  absolutely  no 
foisting  on  her  part.  Will  you  not  then, 
since  you  can't  bring  yourself  to  adopt  her,  at 
least  open  your  door  to  her  occasionally,  and 
give  her  the  inestimable  valuable  aid  of  your 
friendship?  Forgive  me,  if  I  seem  to  break 

372 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     373 

a  promise  in  writing  thus !  I  am  so  interested 
that  I  am  going  out  with  Williston  to-night  to 
see  her.  We  will  make  the  signing  of  a  deed 
by  old  Mrs.  Johnson  the  pretense.  But  if  we 
find  her — Harriet  Glenn — in  every  way  worthy 
of  our  faith,  will  you  not  help  me  give  her 
peace? EDWARD  C.  ALISTON. 


LETTER  XXVIII 

Mrs.  William  Howard  Thompson  in  Re- 
ply to  Aliston.  By  Dispatch,  the  Evening 
of  December  Eighteenth. 

God  in  heaven,  Teddy,  I  can't!  I  can't!  It 
is  all  so  different.  Yet  the  justice  of  your  long- 
ago  bitter  request  has  haunted  me  all  these 
days  and  nights.  And  now  Dr.  Forrester,  too, 
says  I  must.  It  is  the  way  of  Golgotha,  but  it 
is  the  only  right  way  now.  Yes,  I  will,  Teddy, 
I  will !  I  will  take  her  into  my  home — and  pray 
God  day  and  night  that  I  may  grow  able  to  take 
her  into  my  heart.  It  is  cowardly,  I  know,  to 
have  convictions,  unless  one  dares  go  all  the 
way. ERNESTINE. 


374 


LETTER  XXIX 

Aliston  to  Harriet  Glenn.  By  Special- 
Delivery  Letter,  Heavily  Sealed.  Decem- 
ber Nineteenth. 

DEAREST  SOUL  or  MINE: 

Nothing  that  you  can  say  or  do  will  make 
the  slightest  difference  with  me!  I  will  be 
there  by  twilight.  We  will  take  Mrs.  Johnson 
and  go  to  the  parish;  and  then  you  will  come 
back  to  our  home  at  once,  that  I  may  love,  love, 
love  you  always.  No,  I  have  not  the  slightest 
" bigger  right"  to  marry  than  you.  It  was  our 
mistake — our  one  miserable  impetuosity  of 
youth — but  we  will  make  that  very  thing  our 
salvation.  Oh,  how  I  have  hunted  for  you, 
how  I  have  hungered  for  you  I  I  found  early 
I  loved  no  one  else  but  you,  and  broke  my  en- 
gagement— but  I  despaired  of  ever  finding  you 
again,  dear  brave  little  Injured  Heart,  until  the 

375 


376     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

letters  of  a  friend  gave  me  the  needed  clew. 
Just  a  few  hours  now — just  a  few  dolefully 
long  but  fortunately  busy  hours,  dear  heart, 
and  then — then.  God  is  indeed  merciful  in  His 
dealings. YOUBS. 


LETTER  XXX 

Aliston  to  Mrs.  Howard  Thompson.  In 
Form  of  an  Announcement.  By  Special- 
Delivery,  December  Nineteenth.  Written 
at  His  Home  at  Midnight. 

Dear,  you  need  not  now  bend  yonr  brave 
shoulders  under  what  you  think  would  be  so 
bitter  a  load.  Last  evening,  just  at  twilight, 
Harriet  Glenn  and  I  were  married  at  the  little 
Episcopal  church  that  adjoins  the  hospital  of 
"The  Lady  of  The  Tender  Heart"  And  it 
won't  surprise  you,  Ernestine,  when  I  tell  you 
that  this  dear  girl  is  the  one  for  whose  final 
destination  Ory  searched  in  vain?  The  brave, 
brave  little  Girl  in  the  Land  of  Shadow,  who  was 
determined  to  find  just  one  person  somewhere 
who  would  be  willing  to  have  faith  in  her.  I 
shudder  even  now  when  I  think  what  might 
have  been  the  despair  unto  death  if  the  good 

377 


378     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

Mrs.  Johnson  had  not  opened  her  arms.  For 
I  myself  would,  then,  have  been  her  murderer! 
I  wonder  just  how  often  some  poor  soul  has 
been  driven  to  desolation  or  death  just  on  ac- 
count of  this  false  chastity  of  pride ! 

Oh,  Ernestine,  if  I  live  a  thousand  years  I 
would  never  forget  the  sacred  light  in  Harriet's 
beautiful  face  as  she  lifted  her  eyes  to  mine 
and  kept  them  there  the  whole  time  we  knelt 
before  the  altar.  It  was  just  as  the  last  rays  of 
twilight  fell  through  the  softly  stained  window, 
like  God's  spoken  benediction,  that  the  minister 
breathed  the  final  words  that  joined  us.  May 
the  dear  Father  above  make  me  even  in  the 
slightest  degree  worthy  of  the  strength  and 
purity  and  love  that  dwells  in  the  soul  of  the  true 
little  woman  whom  I've  just  made  my  wife! 
Your  very  happy TEDDY. 


LETTER  XXXI 

Mrs.  William  Howard  Thompson  to  Alis- 
ton.  By  Special-Delivery,  December  Twen- 
ty-First. 

TEDDY : 

When  I  received  your  letter  I  cried,  Teddy 
— oh  so  hard.  I  do  not  understand  in  the  least 
about  your  calling  yourself  a  "might-be"  mur- 
derer. But  I  shall  never  ask  an  explanation. 
It  seems  so  glorious  that  you  are  so  big  and 
true  and  brave  as  to  want  to  live  up  to  your 
honest  convictions  in  every  way.  And,  dear, 
I  am  glad,  glad  for  your  sake  since  you  loved 
her  so.  Glad  for  her,  too,  the  brave  little 
woman  who  has  fought  against  such  odds  and 
conquered,  and  won  you,  a  man  whom  any 
woman  might  well  be  happy  to  call  her  own. 
Forrester  and  I  can  scarcely  wait  to  welcome 

379 


380     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

you  both.  His  kindly  eyes  just  shine  with 
joy  at  the  thought  of  your  marriage ;  for  he  tells 
me  that  he  has  always  looked  bitterly  upon  the 
ostracism  of  woman,  and  above  all  a  soulful 
woman,  who  longs  to  come  back  into  the  fold. 
But  he  wanted  me  to  find  this  out,  too,  before 
he  spoke  of  it  at  length. 

We  will  learn  to  love  our  new  niece,  dearly 
— Forrester  and  I,  for  her  own  sake  as  well  as 
because  she  is  the  most  precious  treasure  you 
own.  Let's  never,  never  again  speak  of  any 
mistakes  of  the  past.  Whatever  they  may  be 
is  your  secret  and  hers  now. 

"Yes,  I  said  truly  our  niece;  for  you  are  not 
the  only  person  who  can  be  so  horribly  rude  as 
to  slip  away  and  marry  without  sending  in- 
vitations to  your  nearest  and  best-loved  rela- 
tives! Last  evening,  while  returning  from  a 
call  on  a  very  ill  boy,  Dr.  Forrester  and  I  en- 
tered the  little  hill  chapel,  which  was  all 
wrapped  in  a  mantle  of  glistening  snow,  and 
kneeling  in  the  soft  light  of  a  few  dimly  flicker- 


THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL     381 

ing  candles,  with  a  rheumatic  old  Scotch  jani- 
tor and  his  daughter  for  witnesses,  we,  too,  be- 
came man  and  wife! 

For  you  see,  Teddy,  I  was  dreadfully  mis- 
taken after  all  about  his  caring  for  me  only  as  a 
friend.  It  seems  that  he  has  loved  me  from 
the  start,  but  he  was  too  dearly  courteous  to 
speak  while  my  grief  over  Billy  was  so  new. 
But  after  we  left  that  little  suffering  bedside, 
with  the  beautiful  snow  falling  so  gently,  like 
a  sweet  whisper  straight  from  heaven,  he  could 
not  keep  his  words  back  longer.  And  in  his 
vivid,  fascinating,  powerful  way,  he  insisted 
upon  my  stopping  at  the  little  hill  chapel  that  I 
might  become  his  very  own  at  once. 

And  to  think  that  you  and  dear  Harriet  will 
be  with  us  now  in  less  than  a  week,  and  that 
Mildred  did  not  contest  my  desire  to  have  Ory 
as  a  guest  during  the  holidays.  This  can  mean 
but  one  thing.  Oh,  dear  boy,  if  you  could  have 
seen  the  light  in  his  eyes,  when  I  told  him  that 
Mildred  knew  of  his  coming.  Surely,  surely, 


382     THE  SINGLE-CODE  GIRL 

she  will  learn  through  your  own  marriage,  dear, 
if  by  no  other  way,  to  tranquilize  and  ration- 
alize her  really  fine  views  into  an  acceptance 
that  is  willing  to  leave  a  little  of  the  final  deci- 
sion entirely  to  God!  And  to  think,  too,  that 
I,  who  expected  only  to  stagger  through  vistas 
of  leaden  skies  have  come  into  an  inexpressible 
peace,  through  the  joy  of  awakened  love  and 
service ! 

Oh,  dear  God  in  heaven  be  thanked!  What 
a  home-coming  ours  will  be! 

Your  wondrously  happy  Aunt  ERNES- 
TINE. 


THE   END 


UC  SOUTI«RN  HEGOML  LBHWYFAOUTY 


A     000127538     7 


